John Walsh was a family-owned

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 category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

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 ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

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 ...

History

On the morning of 19 June 1875, John Walsh opened a small baby linen and ladies' outfitting shop, at number 39

High Street, Sheffield High Street is one of the main thoroughfares and shopping areas in the city centre of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England, located at the approximate grid reference of . High Street starts at the Commercial Street, Fitzalan Square and Haymarke ...

. By 1888 the business had grown and had purchased shop units on both on the north and south sides of the High Street. In 1902 John Walsh retired from the business and the store was incorporated as John Walsh Ltd. with five directors coming from the Walsh family. The business had grown into a department store offering the sale of silks, dresses, millinery, ribbons, laces, flowers, feathers, toys, stationery, patent medicine and other goods as well as maintaining restaurant and writing rooms, and by 1906 had opened its own cabinet making factory in Pinfold Street. During the

Second World War 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 by the

Sheffield Blitz The Sheffield Blitz is the name given to the worst nights of German ''Luftwaffe'' bombing in Sheffield, England, during the Second World War. It took place over the nights of 12 December and 15 December 1940. In 1940, Sheffield was a city o ...

in 1940 and the business re-opened in former staff accommodation at The Mount and Fargate. To secure the companies furniture business, the factory in Pinfold Street was made into a separate business, John Walsh Manufacturing Co Ltd in 1944, which continued to trade until its closure in 1957. The business was acquired by

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 ...

in 1946, who had the funds to rebuild the destroyed store. The new store opened to great acclaim in 1953. The Harrods group was taken over by

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 1959 and the store later renamed, firstly as Rackhams Sheffield from 1972 and then House of Fraser Sheffield from 1987. The store was closed in 1998. The former Walsh's building was then occupied by

T. J. Hughes T. J. Hughes, registered and styled as TJ Hughes, is a British discount department store brand which first emerged in Liverpool in 1912 The business grew to become a national chain with 57 stores by 2011 but shrank to just six locations after e ...

. T. J. Hughes then went into administration in August 2011, and although this store survived, the landlord of the building expired T. J. Hughes lease on this 6 floor former department store. The street level part of the building has since been split three ways into branches of

Poundland Poundland is a British variety store chain founded in 1990. It once sold most items at the single price of £1, including Closeout (sale), clearance items and proprietary brands. The first Pilot (experiment), pilot store opened in December 19 ...

British Heart Foundation The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is a cardiovascular research charity in the United Kingdom. It funds medical research related to heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors, and runs influencing work aimed at shaping public policy ...

Electrical and Furnishings store and

Sports Direct Frasers Group plc (formerly known as Sports Direct International plc) is a British retail, sport and intellectual property group, named after its ownership of the department store chain House of Fraser. The company is best known for trading pre ...

, with the landlords still to decide what they will do with the remaining upper floors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:John Walsh (Department Store) Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Walsh John Walsh John History of Sheffield Walsh John