Greenwoods was a chain of menswear stores with headquarters in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

The company was founded by (Sir) Willie Greenwood in 1860 as a

hatter Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of g ...

's shop in Bradford. At its peak in the 1990s there were around 200 branches of the store. In October 2008, a Chinese retailer expressed an interest in purchasing a 50% stake in the chain. However, whilst negotiations were made, the company was hit badly by the downturn in the Global and British economy in the last quarter of 2008. On 23 January 2009, Greenwoods entered

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

and a subsidiary of Harvest Fancy Hong Kong bought 87 of the 92 stores across the UK from the administrators. Prior to entering administration, Greenwoods had a turnover of £25.9 million and employed 579 people. Greenwoods had their headquarters in Albion Mills,

Greengates Greengates is a small suburban area in the north-east of the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, in England. The area is bordered by Idle and Thackley to the north-west, and the large council estate known as Thorpe Edge to the west. To the sout ...

, Bradford but have moved to newly built premises on the Shipley Airedale Road nearer the city centre.

2010-2018

By April 2011 there were 80 stores trading across the UK. Greenwoods was committed to improving and upgrading the image of its stores with an investment programme, funded by its parent company, Pacific Trend Investment. Accounting for 20 percent of the company's revenue, the 1860 brand was the second largest formal garment hire company in the UK. Greenwoods also introduced a slim-fit range of suits, shirts, ties and shoes under the 1860 brand. Greenwoods entered administration on 7 September 2017. In certain cases they have not forwarded any monies to the third party, ACS Clothing, even after receiving payment from customers and they are refusing to refund payments to their customers. It was announced on 2 January 2019 that the business was in liquidation, a little over 18 months since it previously fell into administration. All store branches and the online store ceased trading on 2 January 2019.

References

External links

Official site

Official website
Retail companies established in 1860 Retail companies disestablished in 2019 Companies based in Bradford Hat companies Clothing retailers of England Clothing companies of England Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom {{UK-retail-company-stub