Palmers Department Store

Palmers Department Store
Retail
Founded 1837
Headquarters Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
Number of employees
 400
Website http://www.palmerstores.com/

Palmers Department Store is an independent and family-run department store located in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. The company boasts that it is the 'longest established independent department store in the country'.[1]

History

Palmers can trace its history back to June 1837[2] when Garwood Burton Palmer opened a small linens and drapery shop in Great Yarmouth Market Place.[3] In 1844 his younger brother Nathaniel Palmer joined the business.[4] In 1888, when Garwood Palmer died at the age of 73, the business transferred into the hands of Nathaniel Palmer's sons and the business became known as Palmer Brothers.[5] The shop was the first building in Great Yarmouth to be illuminated by electricity in the town in 1902.[6]

Palmers has survived two major fires and bomb damage. Palmers is still owned and run by descendants of the store’s original founder.[7] The company expanded in the 1990s and 2000s taking on stores in Bury St Edmunds, Dereham and Lowestoft.[8] It has previously had a branch in Red Lion Street, Norwich.[9]

In 2012 a blue plaque was placed outside the Conservative Club of Gorleston by the Great Yarmouth Local History and Archaeological Society, to commemorate the former home of the founder Garwood Burton Palmer.[10]

In 2014 the Dereham store was sold to Basil Todd, and closed in March 2015.[11]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.palmerstores.com/about-palmers/
  2. ↑ http://www.palmerstores.com/stores/great-yarmouth/
  3. ↑ "[Palmers Great Yarmouth]". 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  4. ↑ http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/founder_of_palmers_department_store_remembered_with_blue_plaque_1_1349437
  5. ↑ http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/founder_of_palmers_department_store_remembered_with_blue_plaque_1_1349437
  6. ↑ "[Palmers Department Store, 1902]". 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "[Great Yarmouth Store Palmers Keeps It In The Family With Online Expansion]". 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "[Norfolk department store boss to take a step back]". 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  9. ↑ "George Plunkett Pictures". Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  10. ↑ http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/founder_of_palmers_department_store_remembered_with_blue_plaque_1_1349437
  11. ↑ "From Palmers to Chattels - work starts on Dereham's new department store - Dereham Times p. 23 April 2015". Retrieved 15 May 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/16/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.