Bejam was a British frozen food retailer founded by John Apthorp in 1968, based in Stanmore.

History

In 1968, the concept of selling only frozen foods was a novel idea at the time, and Bejam grew out of Apthorp's existing family business of ''E. A. D. Apthorp'', potato merchants who delivered in and around

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

and Stanmore. Bejam also sold electrical appliances with the Bejam brand name, including

freezers A refrigerator, colloquially fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to its external environment so th ...

, refrigerators,

microwave ovens A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce th ...

and dishwashers. Bejam was named after the family's beach hut whose name was an acronym for Brian, Eric, John and Milly and Marion, the names of the Apthorp family members. Bejam bought the Victor Value chain of supermarkets from

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

in 1986 and ''Wizard Wine'' in 1987. In January 1989, Bejam was bought by its rival

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, despite still being a success and being three times bigger than the Iceland chain. The shops were rebranded to carry the "Iceland" name.

References

Bibliography

Adrian Room Adrian Richard West Room (27 September 1933, Melksham – 6 November 2010, Stamford, Lincolnshire)''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2002; accessed 20 May 2013. was a British toponymist and onomastician, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical So ...

, ''Corporate Eponymy: A Biographical Dictionary of the Persons Behind the Names'', Page 17, McFarland & Co, 1992, * Adrian Room, ''Dictionary of Trade Name Origins'', Page 38, Routledge, 1982, * David Boylan, Antony Head, ''Corporate Finance: Principles & Practice'', Page 314, Pearson Education, 2007, Retail companies established in 1968 Companies disestablished in 1989 Companies based in the London Borough of Harrow Defunct supermarkets of the United Kingdom 1968 establishments in the United Kingdom 1989 disestablishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-retail-company-stub

History

See also

References

Bibliography