J J Allen was a small retail group that formed in 1860 in

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 ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England. The business was incorporated in 1899 by Mr J J Allen as a furniture shop, removal company and funeral directors (which still exist as an independent company). The business expanded to a small chain of department stores, as well the Chanelle and Mayron chain of fashion shops. The expansion included department stores Brights of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

1960, Brights & Colson of

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

1960,

Cavendish House Cavendish House is Cheltenham's oldest and leading department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product ...

(

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

) and Morgan Squire

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 ...

1962. In 1961 JJ Allen bought the

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

department store James Howell & Co, but sold it for a substantial profit in 1962 to the Hodge group, managed by Dr Julian Hodge, a Welsh merchant banker. In 1969

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 ...

purchased JJ Allen for £5.3 million. In 1971, House of Fraser purchased another department store group, Dingles group, and JJ Allen's west country stores were transferred to the Dingles division with the rest being transferred to the

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 ...

division. The store was renamed House of Fraser in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, J J Buildings and structures in Bournemouth Companies based in Bournemouth Allen J J Retail companies established in 1860 House of Fraser 1860 establishments in England