British Shoe Corporation
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Sears plc was a large
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
-based conglomerate. The company was listed on the
London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...
and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was acquired by
Philip Green Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green (born 15 March 1952) is a British businessman who was the chairman of the retail company the Arcadia Group. He owned the high street clothing retailers Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge from 2002 to 2020. As of Ma ...
in 1999.


History

The business was founded by
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...
and William Sears in 1891 and initially traded as bootmakers under the name of ''Trueform''.Richard Davenport-Hine
Clore, Sir Charles (1904–1979)
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004
It had acquired Freeman, Hardy and Willis by 1929. The business was acquired by
Charles Clore Sir Charles Clore (26 December 1904 – 26 July 1979) was a British financier, retail and property magnate, and philanthropist. Life and career Clore was of Lithuanian Jewish background, the son of Israel Clore, a Whitechapel tailor who had em ...
in 1953. He renamed it Sears Holdings in 1955; it went on to buy the Manfield and
Dolcis Dolcis Shoes is a shoewear retailer in the United Kingdom that operate online and through retailers. Previously, they owned over 65 standalone shops in the UK and over 150 concessions. Bought by Harvey Jacobson, of the Jacobson Group in 2012, the ...
shoe shop chains the following year. In the late 1950s Clore consolidated all the shoe brands Sears had acquired under the name British Shoe Corporation under which name it also bought Saxone, Manfield, Lilley & Skinner, another shoe shop chain, in 1962. Despite the company using the Sears name, it has no relations with Chicago, Illinois-based Sears Roebuck and Company and its 2005-2019 parent company, Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based
Sears Holdings Corporation Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th- ...
. Sears decided to invest in department stores in 1965 acquiring
Lewis's Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 2010. The owners of Lewis's have gone into administration many times over the years, including 1991. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became ...
Investment Trust which itself controlled
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 Selfridg ...
. In 1966, Selfridges launched the
Miss Selfridge Miss Selfridge is a British fashion brand and former high street store chain which began as the young fashion section of Selfridges department store in London in 1966. It was part of the Arcadia Group, controlled by Sir Philip Green, which we ...
department, which subsequently expanded to a store chain in its own right. The company diversified again in 1971, buying William Hill, a chain of
bookmakers A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookma ...
. Sears bought Wallis in 1980 and Foster Brothers Clothing, which owned
Adams Childrenswear Adams Kids was a children's clothing retailer, based in Paddington, London in the United Kingdom. History Early history Amy Adams started a children's clothing business from her own home in Birmingham in 1933. She then opened another three stor ...
, in 1985. and in the same year was renamed ''Sears plc'' (PLC meaning
Public Limited Company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company whose shares may be fre ...
). It acquired
Richard Shops Richard Shops was a British high street retailer of women's fashion. History The business was created in 1936 by John Sofio, who modelled the business on the US company Learner Brothers. The company was bankrupt by 1941 and was purchased by ...
in 1992. As at April 1995, the company was FTSE 100 listed and had the following brands: Wallis, Warehouse, Miss Selfridge, Adams Childrenswear, Shoe Express, Shoe City, Saxone, Dolcis, Cable & Co, The Outfit, Lilley & Skinner, Freemans Catalogue Store, Selfridges, The Selfridges Hotel, Part ownership of The St. Enoch Shopping Centre in Glasgow, 3,000 retail shops being mostly leasehold with a few freehold jewels such as 190 Oxford Street and 330 Oxford Street known as the Top Shop flagship store. In 1996 sold FHW, Manfield, True Form, Saxone and Curtess to entrepreneur Stephen Hinchliffe and his business Facia. The remaining parts of British Shoe Corporation were sold by 1998, at an accounting loss of £150 million. Sears plc was acquired by January Investments on behalf of
Philip Green Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green (born 15 March 1952) is a British businessman who was the chairman of the retail company the Arcadia Group. He owned the high street clothing retailers Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge from 2002 to 2020. As of Ma ...
in January 1999. The womenswear business (comprising Warehouse, Richards, Wallis and Miss Selfridge) was subsequently transferred to
Arcadia Group Arcadia Group Ltd (formerly Arcadia Group plc and, until 1998, Burton Group plc) was a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It was best known for being the previous parent company of British Home Stores (BH ...
. Philip Green later purchased the Arcadia Group, regaining control of Wallis and Miss Selfridge alongside Arcadia's other brands (Arcadia having closed Richards, and sold Warehouse to
Rubicon Retail {{Infobox company , name = Rubicon Retail , foundation = 2002 , defunct = 2006 , location_city = London , location_country = United Kingdom , industry = Retail , subsid = Warehouse, P ...
). Sears Group Properties, a wholly owned subsidiary, was sold to the owner of department store
Owen Owen Owen Owen was a Liverpool-based operator of department stores in the United Kingdom and Canada. Beginning with a drapery shop in Liverpool, a chain of department stores was built up, often by taking over rival retailers. The company remained u ...
, and continues to operate as an outsourced property solution for other fashion brands. SPDL (Sears Property Developments Limited), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears plc, was swallowed up by January Investments but the retail park development properties
asset strip Asset stripping is a term used to refer to the practice of selling off a company's assets in order to improve returns for equity investors. In many cases where the term is used, a financial investor, referred to as a 'corporate raider', takes cont ...
generated around £50 million. These included Parc Fforestfach (A483 Pontardulais Road, Swansea) and Westway Cross Retail Park (Greenford). The Sears Property Developments Limited team of four contributed in excess of £10 million per annum in profits between 1995 and 1999 and was Sears "secret weapon." ''The Times''s unfavourable commentary regarding SPDL's property development pipeline (stating it was involved in risky developments) arguably led to Sears plc becoming a bid target.


Brands after demise of Sears

Adams Childrenswear Adams Kids was a children's clothing retailer, based in Paddington, London in the United Kingdom. History Early history Amy Adams started a children's clothing business from her own home in Birmingham in 1933. She then opened another three stor ...
- trading as 'Adams Kids' - remained on the high street until 2010, after some difficulties over the years, and collapsed into administration twice in the late 2000s; former Stead & Simpson chairman John Shannon purchased a portion of the chain's outlets and the Adams brand, before the company fell into administration for a third time in 2010. The brand survives as an online business.About Us
Adams Kids
William Hill plc William Hill is a British gambling company founded in 1934. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK and International. UK operations are conduct ...
is owned by private equity firms Cinven and CVC Capital Partners. It remains one of the UK's leading betting and gaming organisations.
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 Selfridg ...
is owned by Canadian firm
Galen Weston Willard Gordon Galen Weston (October 29, 1940April 12, 2021) was a British-Canadian billionaire businessman and Chairman Emeritus of George Weston Limited, a Canadian food processing and distribution company. Weston and his family, with an esti ...
and has expanded beyond London with branches in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
.
Lewis's Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 2010. The owners of Lewis's have gone into administration many times over the years, including 1991. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became ...
was split from Selfridges and was placed into administration in 1991. Branches in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
,
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
and Hanley were bought out by Owen Owen.
Richard Shops Richard Shops was a British high street retailer of women's fashion. History The business was created in 1936 by John Sofio, who modelled the business on the US company Learner Brothers. The company was bankrupt by 1941 and was purchased by ...
were closed down by
Arcadia Group Arcadia Group Ltd (formerly Arcadia Group plc and, until 1998, Burton Group plc) was a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It was best known for being the previous parent company of British Home Stores (BH ...
shortly after the firm took the chain over from Sears.
Miss Selfridge Miss Selfridge is a British fashion brand and former high street store chain which began as the young fashion section of Selfridges department store in London in 1966. It was part of the Arcadia Group, controlled by Sir Philip Green, which we ...
and Wallis remain part of Arcadia, and the firm has also continued to develop and evolve the Outfit out-of-town fashion store format initially developed by Sears. Arcadia sold Warehouse as part of the deal which created
Rubicon Retail {{Infobox company , name = Rubicon Retail , foundation = 2002 , defunct = 2006 , location_city = London , location_country = United Kingdom , industry = Retail , subsid = Warehouse, P ...
in 2002. Subsequently, Rubicon merged with
Mosaic Fashions Mosaic Fashions hf was the company of several fashion brands. The company has 1,760 stores and concessions in the UK, Europe and the USA, 234 Franchise stores in 44 countries and 93 joint venture stores including 84 concessions in China. Histor ...
, and following the collapse of Mosaic, Warehouse is in the hands of
Aurora Fashions Aurora Fashions was a holding company of several retail fashion brands, formed in 2009 to purchase a number of businesses from the collapsed Mosaic Fashions. The company operates over 1,250 stores in 38 countries, including franchises, under th ...
, which took on many of Mosaic's brands.


References

{{reflist Defunct companies based in London Conglomerate companies established in 1891 Conglomerate companies disestablished in 1999 1999 disestablishments in England Clothing retailers of the United Kingdom 1891 establishments in England