Grants of Croydon is an entertainment complex at 14–32 High Street,

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

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 ...

. Originally built in 1894, Grants became a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1990. In 2000 Grants was re-developed into an entertainment centre. It was bought by

Scottish Widows Scottish Widows is a life insurance and pensions company located in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group. Its product range includes life assurance and pensions. The company has been providing financial services to the ...

in early 2010.

Department store

The two Grant brothers originally had a tailor's shop across the road. Business boomed so the brothers bought out the surrounding shops opposite and opened Grants department store. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

years Grants was considered the

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 ...

of its generation. Croydon was home to the first UK international airport and the store provided all the uniforms for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. Grants was visited by swarms of French aristocrats who flew into

simply to buy a suit. It was the first store in the UK to have its own generator supplied electricity.

The Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

were also frequent visitors to Grants and on occasion the Queen would also come to the store.Photographs of at least one visit are displayed in the complex. After 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 ...

times were hard and the store's clothes were considered over-priced. Business became increasingly difficult, and eventually, by the 1980s, stiff competition forced Grants out of business. The store closed its doors in 1985 and remained empty until 2000.

Reconstruction

Developers Richardsons tasked architects

Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum HOK, formerly Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum and legally HOK Group, Inc., is an American design, architecture, engineering, and urban planning firm, founded in 1955. As of 2018, HOK is the largest U.S.-based architecture-engineering f ...

with the challenge of redeveloping the listed building to its former glory by restoring the original Queen Anne style

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

. The restoration include repair of the

stained glass windows Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

, the stonework, the cornices, the window trims and a turret with a flagpole. The windows of the building are etched as they were in

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

times, with descriptions of the goods that Grants used to sell, such as ' haberdashery' and '

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

s'.

Current tenants

Although the exterior has been restored to its former glory, the environment inside is very different. The tenants are: *

Nando's Nando's (; ) is a South African multinational fast casual chain that specialises in flame-grilled peri-peri style chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outlets in 30 countries. Their logo (also seen as a sort of ...

, a casual dining restaurant. * Reflex, an 80's Bar is now called Luna - Now Closed down * Lloyd's Milan Bar, part of the J D Wetherspoon chain. Opened on 9 December 2002.- Now closed down * Tiger Tiger, a night club. Has several different themed rooms and a restaurant. Closed in 2015 and this is now a branch of the Turtle Bay restaurant chain. * Nuffield Health , a health club and gym. * Vue Cinema, is situated on the top three floors of Grants. It has ten screens, including a RealD Cinema screen.

Department store

Reconstruction

Current tenants

References

External links