Lost Shops of Leeds: Lewis’s Department Store

National World - LocalTV

Andy Hutchinson delves into the history of Lewis's Department Store, one of Leeds' most beloved stores on the Headrow, which is no longer with us. What are your memories of the store?

Transcript

00:00Hi it's Andrew Hutchinson here from your Yorkshire Evening Post. Today I'm stood

00:04outside a beloved lost shop of Leeds. It was a jewel in the city's retail crown

00:10Lewis's department store on the head row. Lewis's became the place to go for

00:19aspirational shoppers and bargain hunters wanting their retail fix. It

00:23first opened on the newly widened head row on September 17 1932 and welcomed

00:30100,000 shoppers on its opening day. Founder David Lewis first opened the

00:36shop in Liverpool before subsequent stores in Manchester Birmingham and then

00:41here in Leeds. Before drawing up the final plans architect GW Atkinson

00:46visited America for inspiration. Lewis's boasted more than 150 departments selling

00:52everything from furniture to food. It was also home to escalators the first to be

00:58built in Leeds. It saw the city go up in the world. Although Lewis's closed in

01:041991 luckily there are still a vast amount of photographs celebrating its

01:09heyday which is housed on photographic archive Leodis which is owned by Leeds

01:15City Council. Here are some photos which may bring back some memories. Do you

01:21remember the ladies fashion department? Two mannequins display fashions of the

01:26day typical of the early 1980s featuring back wing sleeves and

01:30exaggerated shoulder pads. What about the perfumery department? It was on the

01:35ground floor along with fashion accessories and boots and shoes. June

01:401980 saw this spectacular float become Lewis's entry to the seventh annual

01:45Lord Mayor's Parade. Lewis's won the Lord Mayor's Award for best overall entry that

01:50year. The store marked its golden anniversary in 1982 with Santa conducting

01:56a jazz band in Dortmund Square to celebrate. The ground floor at the time

02:01featured a newly modernized food hall where you could buy freshly cut cheeses

02:05and loose biscuits sold by weight. Lewis's was well known for its legendary

02:09window displays at Christmas and throughout the year. This one was from

02:161977 with display manager Alan Banks choosing the theme the best of British

02:20in celebration of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. After holders took over the

02:25site in 1991 it traded until 2005 before falling into administration. In 2008 the

02:32building welcomed Sainsbury's, Argos and TK Maxx which remain today. Lewis's was

02:38the place to go back in the day for generations of shoppers. Thanks to its

02:43150 departments selling furniture and food the mere mention evokes happy

02:49memories. It's one of a number of lost shops around the city centre and if you

02:55remember them we'd love to hear from you. Please get in touch.

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