Edwin Jones was a large department store in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

founded in 1860 in East Street, Southampton with further stores established in Old Christchurch Road,

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, and Clinton Arcade, Weymouth. The business became part of the

Drapery Trust Drapery Trust was formed in 1925 by Clarence Hatry, a notorious British financier. He had made his fortune in speculating on oil stocks, and had convinced investors to promote department stores and bring them under the management of a retail con ...

, later a subsidiary of Debenhams, in 1928. The store was re-branded as Debenhams in 1973.

History

Edwin Jones and his sister, along with a 12 year old apprentice opened a small single fronted shop in 1860, before expanding to larger premises in the same street shortly after, later expanding this store by buying the neighboring Blue Boar pub. In 1880 he bought buildings facing the park in East Street, after failing to purchase the Wesleyan Chapel, which he demolished and built into what was called the Queen's Building. Prior to this expansion, Edwin Jones had become the mayor of Southampton in 1873 and 1875, retiring as a councilor in 1890. At this point he was appointed the Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire, a post he held until his death six years later. The business further expanded after Edward Jones' death with the new Manchester House building, however in 1928 the business was purchased by

, a subsidiary of

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

but continued to operate under its original name. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the store was destroyed during

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, and the new store was not completed until 1959 from a design by architects Healing & Overbury. The store continued to operate under the Edwin Jones name until 1973 when Debenhams renamed the store in their name as part of their rationalization program. In 2020, all Debenhams stores were closed during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and the chain went into administration, although continued to trade online. During this period it was announced that the Southampton store would remain closed permanently.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones Edwin Southampton Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1860 1860 establishments in England Department store buildings in the United Kingdom