Freeman, Hardy and Willis was a major chain of footwear retailers in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

History

The shoe retailer was established in 1875 and was named after three employees of the company, one of whom was Alfred Freeman, a Russian shoe maker who resided in

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in north London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around ...

. For many years, there was a branch in nearly every town in the United Kingdom. In 1929 the company was acquired by

Sears plc Sears plc was a large British-based conglomerate. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was acquired by Philip Green in 1999. History The business was founded by John and Willi ...

. Its subsidiary, the

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

-based British Shoe Corporation, went on to own the Trueform, Curtess,

Dolcis Dolcis Shoes is a shoewear retailer in the United Kingdom that operate online and through retailers. Previously, they owned over 65 standalone shops in the UK and over 150 concessions. Bought by Harvey Jacobson, of the Jacobson Group in 2012, they ...

, Manfield, Saxone, and Lilley & Skinner brands. The name was also simplified to Freeman Hardy Willis in order to have bolder lettering on shopfronts. During the early 1960s the paper bags used to wrap the shoes were imprinted with the FHW letters and the legend "For Happy Walking".

Sale of company

In the early 1990s the British Shoe Corporation converted approximately half of the 540 Freeman Hardy Willis branches into

Hush Puppies Hush Puppies is an American brand of casual footwear. A division of Wolverine World Wide, Hush Puppies is headquartered in Rockford, Michigan. Wolverine also licenses the Hush Puppies name for apparel, toys and accessories. Hush Puppies uses a ...

shops and sold the remainder to

Stephen Hinchliffe Stephen Leonard Hinchliffe (born 2 January 1950, in Sheffield) is an English businessman from Sheffield who was the founder of the former retail empire Facia group, which had up to 850 stores before it collapsed in 1996. He has been a director of ...

, an entrepreneur from

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. After only a year, Hinchliffe's business empire collapsed. He was subsequently jailed after it was found that he bribed bank officials to obtain loans to buy the company. After providing "Shoes For All The Family" since 1875, Freeman Hardy Willis was no more by 1996. After closure, 44 former FHW branches were sold to Stead & Simpson. British Shoe Corporation itself closed in 1998. In more recent years, the Freeman Hardy & Willis name has reappeared online, now owned b
Gardiner Bros & Co (Leathers) Ltd

References

External links

* * {{PM20, FID=co/070416, TEXT=Documents and clippings about, NAME= Companies based in Leicestershire Retail companies established in 1875 Retail companies disestablished in 1996 Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Shoe companies of the United Kingdom Footwear retailers