D H Evans was a department store located in

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, which later became part of

House of Fraser House of Fraser (also operating as Frasers) is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it w ...

. The store was rebranded as House of Fraser in 2001.

History

D H Evans was opened in 1879 by Dan Harries Evans at 320 Oxford Street. Evans was a Welshman who had trained as draper and had moved to London in 1878. This store quickly grew and by 1885 he had taken on three of the adjoining stores. In 1893, the store moved into further new premises at 290-294 Oxford Street and became a limited liability company. The new company was listed as having capital of £202,000. The store was grown again with the purchase of 296-306 Oxford Street in 1895 and 308 in 1898. In 1897, Dan Evans resigned as Managing Director but stayed on the board, and was replaced by Harrods manager Ernest Webb on the advice of

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

and D H Evans director Richard Burbridge. The business continued to expand by purchasing the business of neighbors James Goodman and Arthur Saunders, and in 1906, announced the rebuilding of the collection of buildings on the west side of Old Cavendish Street. In 1915, Dan Evans retired from the board and was replaced by Ernest Webb's son William Wallace Webb. By 1928, however, DH Evans realized they could not expand without further investment, and due to the relationship with Harrods agreed a merger with Harrods being the senior partner, with William Burbridge becoming the chairman. Burbridge realized that the business could not continue to operate from two buildings, and so, in 1935, land bounded by Oxford Street, Old Cavendish Street, Henrietta Street and Chapel Place was acquired and demolished for a new store. The architect chosen was Louis Blanc and the new store fully opened in 1937 after being built in two phases. The former East block of the store was sold to John Spedan Lewis, of the

John Lewis Partnership The John Lewis Partnership plc (JLP) is a British company which operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose & Partners supermarkets, its banking and financial services, and other retail-related activities. The privately-held publ ...

for £848,500. After the war, D H Evans purchased the Devon business of

J F Rockhey J F Rockhey was a department store located in Torquay, Devon with a further smaller branch in Newton Abbot. History John Fry Rockhey bought a small drapery business on Fleet Street, Torquay from a Mr Peter Thomas in 1881, and set about expanding ...

, and D H Evans was run as a wholly owned subsidiary of Harrods. In 1954, Harrods was purchased by

, and D H Evans become a trading arm within the Harrods group. A second D H Evans store was added in Wood Green, London in 1980, and the Oxford Street store was refurbished twice between 1982 and 1985. In 2001, the store was rebranded under the House of Fraser name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans D H House of Fraser Harrods Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Shops in London Luxury brands 1879 establishments in England Retail companies established in 1879 British companies established in 1879 British companies disestablished in 2001