Scottish Drapery Corporation was a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

for a group of Scottish

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 ...

s and

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

History

In 1926 the Scottish Drapery Corporartion was created to take over the share capital of several Scottish businesses. They were

Pettigrew & Stephens Pettigrew & Stephens was a department store based in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. History In 1888, Andrew Hislop Pettigrew (1857-1942) and William Henry Stephens formed a partnership and opened a shop at 191-193 Sauchiehall Street (known as Man ...

a department store in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

;

Patrick Thomson Patrick Thomson was a department store located at the southern end of North Bridge in Edinburgh. In 1952, its parent company the Scottish Drapery Corporation was purchased by House of Fraser. History Patrick Thomson opened a small haberdashery ...

Ltd a department store in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

; D M Brown Ltd a drapers in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and Watt & Grant Ltd a drapers in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. The idea was to increase the buying power and financial resources of the businesses, and were run by John Campbell, who had worked his way up through Pettigrew & Stephens. The business continued to grow by purchasing a raft of business between 1928 and 1950. These were: *1928 - J & R Allan Ltd a silk mercers and drapers in

*1929 - John Falconer & Co Ltd a drapers in

*1934 - Daly & Sons a department store in

*1936 - J D Blair & Sons Ltd a drapers in

*1938 - Cochranes Stores Ltd a ladies outfitters in

(was incorporated into J D Blair & Sons) *1946 - J & S Shannon Ltd a yacht outfitters in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

*1949 - Reid & Pearson Ltd a drapers in

*1950 - A & R Milne a drapers in

In 1952,

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 the Scottish Drapery Corporation (which two thirds of the shares were then held by

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

) merging the individually run businesses into the House of Fraser group. To fund the purchase of the Corporation, House of Fraser sold all bar the two department stores property to Legal & General and leased them back at favourable rates. After the House of Fraser takeover, D M Brown continued to trade under this name until 1972 when it became Arnotts. This closed in 2002 and Reid & Pearson closed in 1960s. J & R Allen was converted into an Arnots during the 1970s but subsequently closed.

References

{{Reflist 1926 establishments in Scotland Holding companies established in 1926 Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Holding companies of the United Kingdom House of Fraser Retail companies of Scotland Holding companies disestablished in 1952 1952 disestablishments in Scotland British companies disestablished in 1952 1952 mergers and acquisitions