THE DEPARTMENT STORE
Grace Brothers Department Store
became possibly the most famous store in the world for a while thanks to
the BBC-Television Series, Are You Being Served?
Are You being Served Theme Music
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OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES CONTINUED
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THE DEPARTMENT STORES
OF KENSINGTON HIGH STREET
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9. BARKER’S DEPARTMENT STORE
Barker’s Department Store
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In 1870, John Barker (1840-1914), a Draper and Entrepreneur and James Whitehead (1834-1917), a Merchant and Investor, joined forces to open a Drapery Business on Kensington High Street. Apparently Mr. Barker’s plan was to build up the business and into a full Department Store.
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After receiving his education, Mr. Barker was trained as a Draper at a number of establishments in towns in Kent. In 1858, he came to London to work at a Draper’s in Marylebone. Within a short period of time, he was offered a position at Whiteley’s Department Store in Westbourne Grove where he proved to be an excellent salesman and was quickly promoted to Departmental Manager. He had hoped to be made a partner at Whiteley’s, but this did not happen. As a result, he left Whiteley’s in 1870 to open his own Draper’s shop in Kensington with Mr. Whitehead putting up much of the initial capital.
John Barker
The original business did well and the profits were used to purchase freeholds and leases of nearby properties. Mr. Barker kept overheads and expenditure to a minimum and even lived over the shop with his family together with the staff members for several years. By 1871, the business opened a Millinery, Dressmaking, Men’s Tailoring and Children’s Departments in buildings close by. The business continued to prosper and Mr. Baker continued to purchase other properties close by, and by 1892, the business had grown to include over forty-two departments and workshops.
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This advertisement was provided by Mr. John Marwood.
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Mr. John Whitehead, co-founder of the original business on Kensington High Street, was a wealthy City Merchant and had been trained as a Draper. He provided much of the capital to launch the Draper’s shop in Kensington and did not interfere with its running by Mr. Barker. He retired from Trade in 1881 and became an Alderman in the City of London in 1882 and was elected Lord Mayor of London in 1888. Mr. Whitehead was responsible for turning The Lord Mayor’s Show from a circus-like affair into a Procession. He helped end the London Docks’ Strike of 1889 and was created a Baronet that year. In 1890, he was appointed High Sheriff of the County of London, and in 1892, he entered the House of Commons as a Liberal Member of Parliament, but resigned in 1894.
John Whitehead – a Caricature that appeared in Vanity Fair
Sir John was also known for his charitable work, which included the setting up of a Benevolent Fund for poor and aged Postal Workers. He also sat on the Boards of a number of Prisons, including H.M. Prison Holloway, which was given over to female inmates in 1903.
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The business was operating one of the largest series of emporia in London by 1892 with forty-two departments offering a wide variety of goods for sale together with necessary workshops. Over one thousand staff members were employed at this time and the delivery service handled over two thousand parcels each day.
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The business was incorporated in 1894 as John Barker & Company Limited with Mr. Barker as the Chairman of the Board, which also had two of his brothers as members. At this time, John Baker & Company consisted of thirty-three shops with sixteen of them facing Kensington High Street. The Company now had sixty-four departments offering goods ranging from Clothes to Groceries, Plumbing to Catering and also including a Chemist’s where prescriptions could be filled.
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In 1907, the former Ponting’s Department Store close by on Kensington High Street was purchased by the John Baker & Company. Despite this purchase, The Company continued to operate both Stores as separate entities, but did begin to advertise the erstwhile Ponting’s Department Store as The House for Value.
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Between 1912 and 1918, John Baker & Company suffered a number of disasters:
- The original part of Barker’s Store was severely damaged by fire in 1912. The damaged departments were found temporary premises in building opposite on Kensington High Street. In the following year, The Company’s own construction department began to rebuild the fire-gutted area.
- John Barker died in 1914. In addition to being an Entrepreneur, Mr. Barker had been an Alderman of the first London County Council and, at one time, Liberal Member of Parliament for Maidstone (1900-1901) and for Penryn and Falmouth in Cornwall (1906-1910). In 1908, he was awarded a Baronetcy. Upon Sir John Barker’s death, Mr. Sidney Skinner became the new Chairman of the Board. Mr. Skinner had joined The Company in 1889 and worked his way up to this position. Mr. Skinner had been a director and was a great influence upon the decision to purchase the Ponting’s Department Store.
- The business of The Company was severely impaired by with the declaration of The First World War and cut-backs were made. Despite this, The Company recovered following the end of the war and resumed its expansion policy.
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In 1920 John Barker & Company purchased the Derry & Toms Department Store, which is adjacent to J. Barker & Co. With this purchase, The Company now owned threeStores on Kensington High Street and which were in close proximity to each other. Although this was the case, each Store retained it own distinct identity.
The Board of Directors agreed that ……..
Barkers should be conducted on high-class lines and Pontings and Derry & Toms cater for the multitude of good middle-class lines.
Quote from: A Legend of Retailing: House of Fraser
by Michael Moss and Alison Turton (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989
In 1924, John Barker & Company opened new stores in Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester selling Pianos and Gramophones. This venture proved to be a failure with the closure of these Stores in 1926.
Despite this setback, The Company acquired Zeeta Cake Company Limited, a high class catering business in 1925. This Company had been formed as an independent company by Sir Sidney Skinner, who had succeeded Sir John as Chairman upon his death, and Mr. Trevor Bowen, who would succeed Sir Sidney in 1941.
In 1926, John Barker & Company opened a new Furniture department at the site on Kensington High Street that had once been a temporary home for several departments damaged during the fire of 1912.
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John Barker & Company Limited in 1921
(From The House of Fraser Archives)
In 1927, John Barker & Company reached agreement with The Crown, the principal local landowner in Kensington, for an exchange of properties that would allow The Company to gain the necessary consolidation of land in order to rebuild Barker’s and Derry & Toms.
John Barker & Company undertook this large building project beginning in 1930. However, it was not to be completed until 1958 due to the intervening Second World War. When finally finished, the project fulfilled its aim in turning both the Department Stores of Barker’s and of Derry & Toms into Art Deco wonders.
The John Barker & Company Department Store
The project required that the frontages of The Stores be moved back by 30 feet to help relieve the traffic congestion of Kensington High Street. In addition, Pontings Department Store was extended along an adjacent street.
The buildings of the new Department Stores were designed by architect Bernard George with the new Derry & Tom’s Store opening in 1933. The Store’s publicity stated that it was a beautiful store to sell beautiful things.
Further construction on the new Barker’s Department Store was not resumed until 1955 and was only finally completed in 1958.
Art Deco Relief on the frontage of Barker’s Department Store
Decorative Metalworkon the frontage of Barker’s Department Store
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CLICK HERE to view THE BATTLE OF THE BARGAINS (1955) at Barker’s Department Store
CLICK HERE to view a Television Advertisement for a Sale held in 1978
These links were provided by Mr. John Marwood.
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Sir Sidney Skinner was knighted in 1922 and died in 1941. He was succeeded as Chairman of John Barker & Company by Mr. Trevor Bowen, a Confectioner, who had joined The Barker’s Group from J. Lyons & Company Limited in 1914. Despite the shortages and restrictions imposed during The Second World War, Mr. Bowen was able to maintain good sales at Derry & Toms thanks to the large purchases of goods made during the 1930’s and which now available to customers.
Despite the difficulties of the War Years, Mr. Bowen was determined to continue the expansion policy of John Barker & Company and in 1947, he was able to broker the acquisition of Gosling & Sons Limited, a Drapery business established in Richmond in the 1790’s. Mr. Bowen also considered the acquisition of Selfridge’s in 1951, but this not come to fruition. However, he was able to purchase a site in Eastbourne where he opened a new Barker’s Department Store with some thirty departments in 1953.
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In 1955, construction was able to be resumed on the new Barker’s Department Store and was finally completed in 1958. However, prior to its opening, the John Barker & Company had changed hands.
Models at Barker’s Department Store
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In 1957, The House of Fraser bought The Barkers Group. Following the sale of The Company, Mr. Bowen replaced as Chairman by Hugh Fraser (1936-1987), but remained as honourary President of the Company until his death in 1965.
Hugh Fraser
Under the House of Fraser’s ownership, The Company was gradually was streamlined. By 1970, The House of Fraser concluded that it was not profitable to maintain three department stores on Kensington High Street and closed Pontings and Derry & Toms Department Stores in 1971 and 1973 respectively. With the closure of Pontings, its goods were transferred to the basement of Barker’s Department Store, which was re-named the Pontings Bargin Basement. The Basement was closed in 1976 since the owners felt that it was not in keeping with the image of Barker’s Department Store.
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In 1975, The House of Fraser purchased The Army & Navy Stores and made Barker’s Department Store the Flagship of the Army & Navy Division.
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By the 1980’s, the House of Fraser concluded that Barker’s Department Store was too large to support the number of clients that was shopping there. As a result, it was decided to make The Store more compact.
As a result, the number of departments was reduced with a subsequent reduction in floor space. The Store was reduced from 600,000 square feet (56,000 square meters) on seven floors to 140,000 square feet (13,000 square meters) on less than four. The new Compact Store was completed in 1986.
The newly acquired space was converted for offices with an atrium, which was the largest in Europe at that time. In addition, part of the newly available space on the lower floor at the west end of The Store was converted into nine Boutiques and an Arcade and were opened in 1987.
One of the Boutiques as it is in December 2014
Barker’s Arcade as it is in December 2014 – a few Boutiques and a Cafe
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CLICK HERE to view a Thames Television News Report on the changes being made to Barker’s Department Store in 1986 which included the building of a glass dome over the upper floors.
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Barker’s Department Store on Kensington High Street continued to offer service in its reduced form until January 2006 when The House of Fraser decided to close it. Barker’s Department Store at Eastbourne had been closed earlier in 1997.
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Today, the erstwhile Barker’s Department Store is now a Whole Foods Market, which sells Organic and Natural Foods.
Click here to see a short video of The Opening Day of Whole Foods in Kensington
Click here to see an interview with the Director of Whole Foods in London
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For those readers wishing to learn more of The Story of John Barker & Co. Ltd., may I recommend the article written by Michael Moss & Alison Turton
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Mr. Paul Bland for his help in the preparation of this tale.
I would also like to thank Mr. John Marwood for his contributions to this tale.
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Click here to return to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES – 9
THE KENSINGTON DEPARTMENT STORES – INTRODUCTION
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Click here to return to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES – 8 –
ARDING & HOBBS DEPARTMENT STORE
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Click here to return to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES – 5
SPOKES DEPARTMENT STORE
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Click here to return to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES OF MY YOUTH – 4
GARDINER’S DEPARTMENT STORE
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Click here to return to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES OF MY YOUTH – 2
GAMAGES
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Click here to return to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES OF MY YOUTH – 1
WICKHAMS
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Click here to return to SHOPPING WITH MY MOTHER;
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Click here to return to SHOPPING WITH MY FATHER;
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Click here to return to THE DEPARTMENT STORE HOME PAGE
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An enjoyable, informative read, thank you. Some readers might find this useful: http://barkerskensington.blogspot.com
A Garden in the Sky
The Story of Barkers of Kensington, 1870-1957
by
D. W. PEEL
The full text and all the illustrations are included.
Hi
Any knowledge of Sir Skinner’s daughter Doris Irene? in 1937 she owned a Derby Bentley which we have just acquired and if anyone has any info on her or on what cars her father owned that would be great. I know that Percy Martyn Skinner 1906 / 1993 became a poet and that Constance Muriel 1911 / ?? married a Henry John Kingerlee in 1935 setting a new trend in “stiffened eye-veils”!
Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, I have no information regarding Doris Irene Skinner. Perhaps other readers are able to help you in your quest. Charles S.P. Jenkins