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 generations. The store was regularly expanded and developed over the years and at one time occupied 30% of the retail floorspace of Hexham. It has had a long and extravagant history boasting the first electric lights in the town, its own funeral directors service, an upholstery service, haberdashery and dressmaking. At its peak, the store traded on 5 floors with 80,000 square feet of floor space including a food hall. Over 300 staff were employed in the store in the early 1980s. The store opened a second branch in Hexham in 1989. Robbs at Tynedale Park featured a garden centre, homewares and furnishings. It was later rebranded as Tynedale Park, before being sold to Tesco and closing in 2005. The business was sold to the Joplings group in October 1987, and a few years later was acquired by Merchant Retail and

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 ...

, before it was bought by the newly formed

Vergo Retail Vergo Retail Ltd was a department store business based in Liverpool, England, founded in 2007. Vergo Retail ran 20 shops, consisting of nine department stores, including Lewis's of Liverpool, Robbs of Hexham, Joplings of Sunderland and Der ...

in 2007."Historic shops sold in £5m deal". BBC News (bbc.co.uk). 2005-01-19. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4187745.stm. Retrieved 2007-03-17 On 7 May 2010 Vergo was placed into administration, with MCR appointed as the administrators. On 11 May 2010 it was announced that there would be ten store closures, including Robbs, within the next four weeks unless a buyer was found. By 21 May 2010 Beales had lodged a formal notice of interest in Robbs of Hexham, whilst the administrators asked the Buccleuch Group, owners of the building, and Northumberland County Council to waive rent and rates for ten weeks, to allow the business to be continued to be marketed as a

going concern A going concern is a business that is assumed will meet its financial obligations when they become due. It functions without the threat of liquidation for the foreseeable future, which is usually regarded as at least the next 12 months or the spec ...

. On 4 June 2010 Robbs was sold to Beales for £250,000, saving 140 jobs. Beales aimed to return the store to profitability. In 2011 the store was rebranded under the Beales fascia, and it closed in February 2020.

Footnotes

External links

Robbs of Hexham website
Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1819 Retail companies established in 1819 1819 establishments in England Hexham {{UK-retail-company-stub