Lewis's was a renowned departmental store of Britain which had an outlet in Liverpool which is still operative, although the parent company has been closed down. The Lewis's store has an interesting past and is one of the well-known European departmental stores of all times.
History of Lewis's
The history of Lewis's goes back to the year 1956 when the first Lewis's store was opened at Liverpool by David Lewis, who was the son of a rich Jewish London based merchant. He initially established a small boy's and men's clothing store in a small area with the motto 'friends of the people'. He basically wanted to manufacture products, which even the middle classes could afford unlike the other stores, which mainly made items that were affordable only by the rich.
The Lewis's store was housed in the Lewis's building, which is one of the renowned architectural classics of Liverpool built in Portland stone. The building had suffered greatly during the Second World War lightning attacks but was rebuilt according to its original glory. The most remarkable aspect of the building is the statue of a naked man, 'Liverpool Resurgent', which is placed right in front of the building.
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Lewis's Outlet
The first Lewis's outlet opened outside Liverpool was in Manchester, followed by those in Birmingham and Sheffield. Several other branches were opened after the company was overtaken by Harold and Rex Cohen. The Lewis's company became non-operational from 1991 because it could not compete with the contemporary rival companies and several other factors.
Owen Owen
The Lewis's company was then bought by Owen Owen, which was another renowned Liverpool based company. The Owen Owen Company bought several other shops like the G W Robinson in Canada and T J Hughes group of companies. After the Lewis's stopped operation, the Owen Owen bought several shops of Lewis's from the administrative group and the new shops were named 'Lewis's Owen Owen'. Thereafter the company was bought by Philips Green and had undergone several ups and downs since then. At present, the Owen Owen shops at Sunderland, Liverpool and Hexham are only operational and David Thompson owns the company.
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