Robert Sayle was the founder of a department store located in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

History

Robert Sayle was born in Southery,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

in 1816. His father was a farmer; however, Robert did not continue in his father's footsteps and moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to learn the drapery trade with well known firms, such as Hitchcock, Williams & Co who were based near St Paul's Cathedral. In 1840, he returned to Cambridge and with assistance from his father he set a drapery business located in Victoria House, 12 St Andrew's Street. The business sold Irish Linens, Sheeting, Hosiery, Haberdashery, Furs, Shawls, Handkerchiefs, Ribbons and Fancy Goods. The store was cutting edge for its time, as plate glass windows had been added to the store front to display the shop's goods. The business continued to grow purchasing the shops along St Andrew's Street and by 1888 the store had grown up to no. 17. However, Robert Sayle died of a heart attack in 1883, and the business continued to be run as a private business by partners, Joseph Clark, Arthur Edward Chaplin and Hugh Porter who greatly expanded the departments. The business continued to operate as an independent business until 1934, when

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge ...

purchased the business. However, five years later Selfridges sold off its provincial stores and Robert Sayle was bought by the

John Lewis Partnership The John Lewis Partnership plc (JLP) is a British company which operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose & Partners supermarkets, its banking and financial services, and other retail-related activities. The privately-held publ ...

. They also acquired Thompsons of Peterborough from Selfridges, which was rebranded under the Robert Sayle name in 1941. The

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

store was destroyed by fire in 1956 and not re-opened. The store continued to trade at St Andrew's Street under the Robert Sayle name until 2004, when the store was moved to a temporary location in Burleigh Street. This was to facilitate the demolition of the St Andrew's Street store to make way for the Grand Arcade shopping centre. The Grand Arcade opened in November 2007, with the anchor store being the new John Lewis Cambridge. The partners at Robert Sayle had voted to drop the old name and start afresh with the John Lewis name. Robert Sayle's youngest son,

Charles Edward Sayle Charles Edward Sayle (6 December 1864 – 4 July 1924) was an English Uranian poet, literary scholar and librarian. He was the youngest son of Robert Sayle, a wealthy salesman, and Priscilla Caroline Sayle. He served as an under-librarian at Cam ...

, was a noted poet, literary scholar and librarian.

References

British companies established in 1840 Retail companies established in 1840 Retail companies disestablished in 2007 Shops in Cambridge History of Cambridge Sayle Robert Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Sayle Robert Sayle Robert {{coord, 52.20422, N, 0.12266, E, type:landmark_region:GB-CAM, display=title