Owen Owen was a

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 popul ...

-based operator of

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s 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 under Owen / Norman family control until the 1980s, and the brand ceased to be used in 2007.

Founder and early history

Owen Owen was born on 13 October 1847 at Cwmrhaeadr near

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a popul ...

at the westernmost tip of

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

.National Library of Wales, Owen Owen, Liverpool, manuscripts, [1878]-1910 / Owen Owen
Retrieved 14 November 2013 His family were hill farmers. Welsh agriculture had prospered during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

when imports of food were restricted but, after the war, there was such a severe depression that in 1838 the farm which had been their home for generations had to be mortgaged and the following year sold. Owen Owen was the first child of his father's second wife, but she died after giving birth to her sixth child when Owen Owen was only eight. His mother had a brother, Samuel, who needed help to run his

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period, ...

's shop in Bath; so Owen Owen went to Bath and his uncle gave him both a home and an education. He was educated at the Wesleyan College,

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, and started working at his uncle's shop in 1860. In 1868, at the age of 20, with some help from Uncle Samuel, Owen Owen opened his own

's emporium at 121 London Road, Liverpool, close to where his father's brother, Robert, had had a shop at number 93. By 1873 Owen Owen had over 120 employees, many from Wales, and a quarter of an acre of floor space. Owen Owen was interested in his staff's well-being. Besides being the first employer in Liverpool to give staff a half day off each week, he also set up a trust fund for retired employees. In the 1880s he began investing in other enterprises including railways, and in 1889 became director of Evans & Owen Ltd in Bath, the shop started by his uncle. He moved to London in 1891, after marrying, but continued to manage the Liverpool store which became one of the largest stores in the

north of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

. He also invested in many other stores and estates. Owen's daughter went onto marry into the Liverpool based family of Norman, and it was under Duncan Norman, and then his son John, who would lead the company from the 1920s. In his private life he was an active supporter of many Welsh organisations. He died of cancer in London on 27 March 1910 at the age of 62.

Expansion and collapse

Owen Owen opened a

drapery Drapery is a general word referring to cloths or textiles (Old French , from Late Latin ). It may refer to cloth used for decorative purposes – such as around windows – or to the trade of retailing cloth, originally mostly for clothin ...

shop at 121 London Road, Liverpool. Over the years the store expanded, but in the 1920s when the city's retail focus moved away from the London Road area, the Owen family lent the company the money to move to a better position on Clayton Square where a large purpose-built department store (originally designed as a luxury hotel) was erected. The company then purchased rival chain

T J Hughes T. J. Hughes, registered and styled as TJ Hughes, is a British discount department store brand which first emerged in Liverpool in 1912 The business grew to become a national chain with 57 stores by 2011 but shrank to just six locations after e ...

, after a visit by then chairman Duncan Norman and moved that firm's Liverpool store into the empty London Road premises. Owen Owen expanded by building a store in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

in 1937, which was bombed during

World War II 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 ...

, and purchasing Frederick Matthews in Preston. After the war it continued to expand, purchasing G W Robinson Ltd in Canada during 1951, and adding other stores to the UK portfolio while the Coventry and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

store were rebuilt. A subsidiary company, Plumb (Contract Furnishers and Shopfitters) Ltd., was created from its own shopfitting department and had offices at Bishop Street, Coventry and Kempston Street, Liverpool. By 1979 the business operated 19 department stores branded either Owen Owen or under their original name but taglined as an Owen Owen store. It also operated three T J Hughes stores in the UK, and seven G W Robinson stores in Canada. In the 1980s the Owen family sold the business. G W Robinson was sold in 1982 to Canadian businessman Joseph Segal and John Levy, while T J Hughes was split off as a separate entity. In 1991 the firm purchased several

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 ...

stores from administration (not to be confused with

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

) and was known briefly under the business name of 'Lewis's Owen Owen', before being taken over 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 1994."Trading continues after Owen Owen collapse", Drapers Online, 2 March 2007
Retrieved 14 November 2013 In 1995 Green launched the brand ''Kid's HQ'' in four of his Lewis's and Owen Owen Stores. The company was then stripped of its assets, which included the closure of the flagship Liverpool branch of Owen Owen, and was cut from twelve stores to one, Lewis's of Liverpool, following the sale of many stores to other chains including

Allders Allders was an independent department store operating in the United Kingdom. The original store was established in 1862 in Croydon by Joshua Allder. In the second half of the 20th century, this parent store was developed into a chain of depart ...

and

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

. In early 2005, Philip Green sold his stake in the business to David Thompson who began a new phase of expansion at Owen Owen, acquiring Joplings and

Robbs Robbs was a mid-size department store in Hexham, latterly owned by Beales. It was established in 1818 by William Robb a lace trader from Fife and subsequently managed for the next 169 years in an unbroken father to son line for six generation ...

from the Merchant Retail Group and purchasing Esslemont & MacIntosh from the Esslemont family. The Owen Owen brand name was no longer used, but remained the name of the operating company. On 28 February 2007 Owen Owen entered administration. One of the reasons given for the company's demise was the disruption caused by the

Big Dig The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T Project), commonly known as the Big Dig, was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the Central Artery of Interstate 93 (I-93), the chief highway through the heart of the city, into the 1.5-mile (2.4& ...

, a series of regeneration projects in Liverpool city centre. The Esslemont & MacIntosh store at Aberdeen was closed on 5 May 2007. In the same month the Liverpool, Hexham and Sunderland stores were sold as a going concern to Vergo Retail Ltd., controlled by the previous owner of Owen Owen, David Thompson, and enabling the stores to continue to trade.

Former branches and subsidiaries

Owen Owen

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

, The Malls, opened 1981 * Bath, formerly James Colmer, the name being retained on cast window frames and glass panels in hoardings. Purchased 1973; closed 1991; ground floor and partial 1st floor redeveloped as multiple outlets, remainder converted to flats. *

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, opened 1959; converted to a TJ Hughes *

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, formerly Wades, purchased 1975, closed 1981 *

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, formerly James Colmer store closed 1973 *

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, formerly Richard Jones. Purchased 1960, closed 1999. Food Hall formerly known as William Jones (the Three Old Arches store), which was a separate business, and then amalgamated into one store. *

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

, formerly W S Wood. Purchased 1975, closed 1981. *

, City Centre. Opened 1937, destroyed in 1940 blitz, rebuilt 1954 *

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

opened 1992 *

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, purchased from Verity & Sons in 1950, sold to Binns in 1975 *

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...

, formerly W M Taylor & Sons, purchased 1971, closed 1977 * Evesham, formerly Hamilton & Bell, purchased 1975, closed 1982 *

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on high ground, north of Charing Cross. Nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, Mill Hill and H ...

, formerly Priors, purchased 1963, closed 1993 *

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

, Commercial Street, opened 1975, closed 1979 * Ilford, Exchange Shopping Centre, opened 1991 *

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

, Buttermarket, opened 1992 *

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...

, formerly Attwoods, purchased 1975, transferred to T J Hughes * Newport, formerly Reynolds, purchased 1975, closed 1989 * Preston, formerly Frederick Matthews, purchased 1937, closed 1989 *

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

, Kingfisher Centre, opened 1980 *

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, formerly Wright Brothers, purchased in 1976 from House of Fraser, closed 1990 *

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, formerly Maddox & Co, purchased 1966, closed 1990 *

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

, formerly Suters, purchased 1978 *

, formerly E Mayes & Son, purchased 1949, closed 1994 *

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

, formerly Stringers; purchased 1975, closed 1990, demolished 1995. The building started life as a cinema which closed in 1973 and was converted to Stringers. *

, formerly Clements & Brown, purchased 1973, closed 1979 *

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...

, formerly Suters, purchased 1978, closed 1998 *

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...

, formerly B T Butter, purchased 1978, closed 1993 *

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

opened 1968. The store later operated as TJ Hughes it was demolished and rebuilt for Debenhams (closed 2020).

T J Hughes

, London Road *

(changed from an Owen Owen to a T J Hughes) *

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

opened 1946, closed 1971 *

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Histo ...

opened 1968 *

transferred from Owen Owen *

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

opened 1967, closed 1969 * St. Helens opened 1988 *

transferred from Owen Owen

Lewis's

Purchased in 1991. *

Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been 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 populati ...

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 ...

Other department stores

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Esslemont & Macintosh, purchased 2005, closed 2007 * Hexham,

, purchased 2005 *

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

, Boothroyds, purchased 1990, closed 1993 *

, Broadbents, purchased 1990, closed 1993 * Sunderland, Joplings, purchased 2005

Former G W Robinson stores in Canada

Burlington Centre Burlington Centre (formerly known as Burlington Mall) is a shopping mall located in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the two enclosed malls in Burlington, Ontario, the other being the Mapleview Centre. The stores at Burlington Centre i ...

Burlington, Ontario Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton met ...

*Centre Mall,

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

*James Street South,

Eastgate Square Eastgate Square is an indoor shopping mall in Stoney Creek, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The mall is bounded by Queenston Road (South), Centennial Parkway (East), Delawana Drive (North) and Kenora Avenue (West). The Mall is managed by ''Cushman ...

Lime Ridge Mall Lime Ridge Mall (corporately styled as "CF Lime Ridge") is a two-level indoor shopping mall in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Opened on September 13, 1981, it is the largest mall complex in the city, an super-regional shopping centre with over 213 ...

The Pen Centre The Pen Centre (originally Niagara Peninsula Shopping Centre) is the largest shopping mall in the Niagara Region, located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. History The Pen Centre was built in 1957 as the Niagara Peninsula Centre, a single-l ...

, St. Catharines * Niagara Square Shopping Centre,

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the 2016 census. It is part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census M ...

* Conestoga Mall, Waterloo, Ontario

The Owen Owen Trust Fund

The trust fund continues as a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

, supporting those who were formerly employed by any company in the Owen Owen group, together with their spouses and dependents.

References

Sources

* David Wyn Davies: ''Owen Owen: Victorian Draper'' (Gwasg Cambria, Aberystwyth, 1983) {{ISBN, 0-900439-16-5

External links

The Owen Owen TrustOwen Owen Liverpool
at Flickr
Owen Owen Finchley
at Flickr Buildings and structures in Liverpool Debenhams Defunct companies based in Liverpool Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom British companies disestablished in 2007 Allders British companies established in 1868 Retail companies disestablished in 2007 Retail companies established in 1868