J R Roberts Stores opened in 1870 in

Stratford, London Stratford is a town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. Until 1965 it was within the historic county of Essex. Part of the Lower Lea Valley, Stratford is situated 6 miles (10 km) east-northeast of Chari ...

as a drapery and furniture shop at 96 Broadway, before expanding and becoming a full line department store covering 78-102 Broadway. In 1888, it is reported that J R Roberts opened the first Christmas grotto in a UK department store. Later their Christmas fairs were known for animated soldiers, sailors and other toy figures. During the early part of the 20th century, the postcard artist Hermann Fleury Jnr fitted out the Christmas display for a fee of £200. In 1895, Queen Mary Hospital at West Ham opened a new wing and the two main wards were named after J R Roberts who had paid for the furniture. The business expanded in 1899 when they opened a second store in Nelson Street,

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

, as a subsidiary (Company no. 00338672) of the Stratford branch. They also announced they would stop selling alcohol in their Stratford store as part of the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

. In 1933 they moved from Nelson Street to 90 High Street, Southend, which had been home to Percy Ravens since 1900. In 1950 the business was purchased by retail group Hide & Co. In 1954, J R Roberts closed their Stratford store and sold it to the

London Co-operative Society The London Co-operative Society (LCS) was a consumer co-operative society in the United Kingdom. History The Society was formed in September 1920 by the amalgamation of the Stratford Co-operative Society and the Edmonton Co-operative Society, ...

(who demolished the old buildings and built a new department store between 1957 and 1962), The Southend store 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 ...

in 1975 after they purchased Hide & Co, and was renamed

Chiesmans Chiesmans was a department store group based in Lewisham, London. The business was established in 1884 as a general draper, expanding to become the largest department store in south-east London and operator of a network of branches stretching fr ...

before becoming Army & Navy. The premises have since been occupied by Dixons / Currys and Morrisons Local.

References

Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1870 Companies with year of disestablishment missing House of Fraser Shops in London Department stores in Southend-On-Sea (town) 1870 establishments in England {{UK-retail-company-stub