Jenners is a former well-established department store in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on

Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...

. It was Scotland's oldest independent department store until the retail business was acquired by

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 ...

in 2005. It closed in December 2020 at the Scottish Government COVID-19 lockdown and was vacated by House of Fraser in May 2021. The building will eventually be restored.

History

Jenners was founded as "Kennington & Jenner" in 1838 by Charles Jenner

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1810–1893), a linen draper, and

Charles Kennington Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

. The store has never left its site on Princes Street, but its original building was destroyed by fire in 1892. In 1893 the Scottish architect

William Hamilton Beattie William Hamilton Beattie (10 December 1842 – 29 November 1898) was a Scottish architect specialising in hotel design in the late 19th century. He was the eldest son of George Beattie (1810-1872) an architect/builder in Edinburgh and ...

was appointed to design a replacement, which subsequently opened in 1895. At Charles Jenner's insistence the building's facade was decorated with rows of female

caryatids A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...

"to show symbolically that women are the support of the house". The new store featured many technical innovations such as electric lighting and hydraulic lifts, and is now a category A listed building. Jenners was run for many years by the Douglas-Miller family, descendants of James Kennedy, who took charge of the store after Charles Jenner retired in 1881. Known as 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 the North", it has held a

Royal Warrant A royal warrant is a document issued by a monarch which confers rights or privileges on the recipient, or has the effect of law. Royal warrant may refer to: * Royal warrant of appointment, warrant to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a r ...

since 1911, and was visited by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

on the occasion of its 150th anniversary in 1988. The store made national news in 2007 when it publicly announced that it would stop selling

paté de foie gras Foie gras (, ; ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a duck or goose. According to French law, foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by gavage (force feeding). Foie gras is a popular and well-known del ...

, following a boycott by the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton.

Sale to House of Fraser

On 16 March 2005 it was announced that the Douglas-Miller family were in advanced negotiations to sell the business to the

, at an estimated price of £100–200 million, but a month later it was sold for £46.1 million. While other acquisitions by House of Fraser had been renamed, Jenners kept its identity. In 2008, House of Fraser invested £3 million in improvements to the store. As a result of this, in 2016 the basement toy department was rebranded under the Hamleys name, before being closed in 2019. The lease of the building remained with the Jenners holding company JPSE Ltd, owned by the Douglas-Miller family. In August 2005 it was sold to Moorcroft Capital Management, owned by Jenners' former chief executive Robbie Douglas-Miller. In 2017 the building was bought by Danish billionaire fashion retailer and landowner in Scotland

Anders Holch Povlsen Anders Holch Povlsen (born 4 November 1972) is a Danish billionaire, CEO and sole owner of the international retail clothing chain Bestseller (which includes Vero Moda and Jack&Jones), a company founded by his parents. He is the largest sharehol ...

, reportedly for £53 million. In late 2019 it was reported that the business was considering reducing its size or moving from Princes Street.

Department store closure

In January 2021, it was announced that Jenners was closing and 200 jobs would be lost. The Jenners signage was removed from the Princes Street building on 14 April 2021, reportedly to the surprise of the owners of the building. Edinburgh City Council issued a Listed Building enforcement notice on 21 April 2021 to Sports Direct Retail, the Mike Ashley company that owns the Frasers Group, to reinstate the Jenners letters on the eastern and southern sides of the department store, as these had been removed without listed building consent. In May 2021, it was announced that the restoration of the building will take four years, and that the store was planned to reopen without the House of Fraser livery once redevelopment had completed.

Proposed hotel conversion

In June 2022, AAA United, the company owned by Anders Holch Povlsen, was granted planning permission to convert the building to a 96-room hotel. Under the plans, the three-storey central atrium would be retained, as would the Jenners signage. The hotel rooms would occupy the upper floors, with new retail use, restaurants and cafés at the lower levels, and a new roof-top bar.

Loch Lomond Shores

The Jenners store in the Loch Lomond Shores outlet in Balloch remains in operation. However is now marked as a dual

Frasers 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 ...

and Sports Direct store, all branding from Jenners is practically absent.

Stores

Jenners had two shops in 2020: *

, Edinburgh * Loch Lomond Shores Jenners previously had stores at Edinburgh Airport and Glasgow International Airport that closed following a decision announced in April 2007. Jenners said that security measures introduced in UK airports following the

2006 transatlantic aircraft plot The 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives, carried aboard airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada, disguised as soft drinks. The plot was discovered by British M ...

had led to a significant downturn in trade at the shops."Jenners closes Edinburgh and Glasgow airport shops"
, UK Airport News, 22 April 2007

References

External links

Official website
{{Buildings and Structures in Edinburgh Department stores of the United Kingdom Companies based in Edinburgh House of Fraser Service companies of Scotland Retail companies established in 1838 British Royal Warrant holders Scottish brands Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh New Town, Edinburgh 1838 establishments in Scotland Department store buildings in the United Kingdom Sports Direct