Was there a real Ann Summers, a Mr Dixon who stated Dixons, a Mr Curry, similarly Currys, a T J Hughes and any of these other highstreet names.

Off the top of my head, I can think of John Sports-Soccer, Wendy Chinese-Herbal-Remedies and Richard Phones4u.

There are probably loads more though.

I bet Jack Fulton realy exists, and I bet we wears a string vest and smokes Royals :)

Trebor sweets was named after the man who started it whos' name is Robert which is Trebor backwards.

Marks & Spencer is the obvious one though.

I understand from my Jack Fulton store that it was just a name thought up to sound 'matey'. They are actually part of a large frozen food empire. Sorry to disappoint you

Charles Kalms opened the first Dixons photographic studio at 32 High Street, Southend. The business was incorporated as a private company called Dixon Studios Limited and registered on 27 October 1937 with share capital of £100.

Charles Kalms had been selling advertising space on the London Underground when he met Michael Mindel, who had a small photographic studio in Oxford Street but was keen to expand. They became the first directors of the company.

When the first studio opened in Southend, the shop front could accommodate a name of no more than six letters. The solution was found in the telephone directory - "Dixons" was short enough to fit over the door

here (http://www.pcwb.com/html/about/thirty.jphtml)

B&Q

In the 1960s DIY was a hobby of the few. Professional building supplies were mainly found at builder's merchants and the service in these large stores could be intimidating to the average DIY’er. Block and Quayle wanted to bring value, longer opening hours and a broader product range to everyone, so they opened the first B&Q store in Portswood Road, Southampton, Hampshire. Although initially called Block and Quayle, the name was soon shortened to B&Q.

B&Q's list of stores continued to expand throughout the 1970s, and B&Q introduced products from power tools through to sheet boarding and Formica to the British public. Richard Block left the company in 1976, but David Quayle stayed on to take the company into the next decade. By 1979 there were 26 B&Q stores.

B&Q grew rapidly during the early 1980s, buying the Scottish DIY chain Dodge City and eventually becoming part of the Kingfisher Group. David Quayle left the company in 1982

here. (http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/templates/contentlookup.jsp?root=/aboutbandq&content=/aboutbandq/2004/company_information/history.jsp)

TJ Hughes Limited

The business was set up by Mr TJ Hughes who began operating as a sole-trader in Liverpool in 1912. The company was incorporated in 1927 when it moved to the current store and head office site in Liverpool. Owen-Owen acquired the company in February 1932 and floated the company on the AIM in 1992 when it was trading from 272,000 sq ft across 11 stores. The company had a full-listing on the London Stock Exchange from 1994 until it was acquired by JJB Sports in April 2002. In November 2003 the company was acquired by TJ Hughes (Investments) Limited, an MBO vehicle backed by PPM Ventures and HBOS

here. (http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/current/storecard/pdf/initial_subs_retailers_tj_hughes.pdf)

Marks and Spencer’s was created by a market seller and a business man. They where real people.

ODEON founded in 1930 by Oscar Deutsch means:

Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation.

Originally posted by dawny1
Trebor sweets was named after the man who started it whos' name is Robert which is Trebor backwards.



is that true? i used to call my brother (robert) trebor when i was lil:P

Originally posted by x_LoUiSe_x
is that true? i used to call my brother (robert) trebor when i was lil:P

Not really....

In 1907 four friends, Robert Robertson, William Woodcock, Thomas King and Sidney Marks started a sugar sweet manufacturing company in Forest Gate in the East End of London. The company Robertson & Woodcock leased their first factory in a building called Trebor Villas. Whilst few have heard of Robertson & Woodcock, the name TREBOR became one of the best known sweet manufacturers in the world, with more than five factories dotted across Britain and operations spanning the globe from Malaysia to Denmark .

here (http://www.ingerboyett.info/welcome.htm)

When I first read the title of this thread I thought maybe it was a conspiracy theory - like they were set up by aliens as part of a slow burning subtle ploy to take us over!

Originally posted by cgksheff
Not really....

In 1907 four friends, Robert Robertson, William Woodcock, Thomas King and Sidney Marks started a sugar sweet manufacturing company in Forest Gate in the East End of London. The company Robertson & Woodcock leased their first factory in a building called Trebor Villas. Whilst few have heard of Robertson & Woodcock, the name TREBOR became one of the best known sweet manufacturers in the world, with more than five factories dotted across Britain and operations spanning the globe from Malaysia to Denmark .

here (http://www.ingerboyett.info/welcome.htm)

Aw and here's me thinking I could go on Who wants to be a Millionaire - oh well back to my ignorance! :(

Then of course there was Ken - Ken Tuckyfriedchicken

Originally posted by slimsid2000
Then of course there was Ken - Ken Tuckyfriedchicken

I don't quite know why, but I've been laughing at that for about ten minutes! :D

I thought Trebor was founded in Nottingham, HONEST!

Seen as it's in the news.

Tesco was formed by Jakob Cohen who started out selling groceries on Brick Lane and Hackney markets.

He then expanded to cover more markets and moved into becoming a Wholesaler. In the 1920's Jack bought some tea from a supplier named TE Stockwell. He took took the first three letters of the supplier and added the first two from Cohen and then the Tesco brand was born.

WH Smith

212 years old
Founded in 1792 by Henry Walton Smith
Started as newsvendor in central London

So why isn't it HW Smith?

H Samuel

Harriet Samuel 1862

here (http://www.hsamuel.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/hsamuel/about/history.jsp)

ASDA

Associated Dairies

North Yorkshire farmers 1965

Richard and Maurice McDonald

1948 in San Berdino

Now something I hadn't known before:

Wimpy Burgers, 1934, (which many may not have heard of) were named in homage to J. Wellington Wimpy, the chubby, mustachioed cartoon character who hung around with Popeye.

and ........
........ when its founder, Ed Gold, died in 1978, the chain vanished in keeping with a provision in his will that all 1,500 units close

John (Strix) Lewis opened his first shop in Oxford Street, London in 1864

Originally posted by cgksheff
John (Strix) Lewis opened his first shop in Oxford Street, London in 1864

But he was a draper. It was his nephew John (Spedan) Lewis that was given the Peter Jones store to manage and went on to build the foundations of The Partnership as we know it today :D

mmmm :D

Spedan was John Lewis' eldest son and was given control of "Peter Jones" in 1914 but it was a department store bought by his father in 1905.

Spedan is however acknowledged for his avant-garde ownership theories and did found the "Partnership" (legally) after his father's death.

I can't check my source - It was a book that I was once loaned :confused:

It was a book about his life. I'm fairly certain his mother was widowed (or something) and he was adopted by John Lewis, although they were actually family of some description.

None of this would be relevant to the descriptions of how the business evolved that are available on the JLP site.

Or I could be on another planet with this one :(

Waite, Rose & Taylor are now better known as Waitrose :thumbsup:

Sainsbury's was founded in 1869 by John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury. Drury Lane was one of London's poorest areas and the Sainsburys' shop quickly became popular for offering high-quality products at low prices. He opened a depot in Kentish Town, north-west London, to supply this growing chain and, on the same site, built bacon kilns that produced the first Sainsbury brand product.

Sir Montague Burton (1885-1952), founder of the tailoring empire that bears his name, was one of several Russian Jewish immigrants who built enormously successful businesses from humble beginnings.

Burton was born on 13 August 1885 in Kurkel, Kovno province, in Lithuanian Russia. The son of Hyman Jehuda and Rachel Elky Osinsky, his name was originally Meshe David Osinsky.
He left Russia when he was just 15, with the aim of setting up in business in Britain - taking with him the equivalent of £100 to get him started.

Burton always claimed that his business began as early as 1900, but at that point his career was beginning in a more typical way, with him peddling accessories from door to door. In 1901 he was living at 1 Saltersgate, Chesterfield, and three years later - in November 1904, according to a surviving fire insurance policy - he opened a shop at the rear, at 20 Holywell Cross.

The first purchase of ready-made suits was recorded on 8 June 1905 in the sales ledger of Zimmerman Bros, wholesale clothiers, of Leeds. By 1906 Burton began to establish a chain of shops, first at Mansfield and then in Sheffield, offering both ready-to-wear and bespoke suits.

Burton quickly established himself in the local Jewish community, marrying Sophia Marks in Worksop on 23 March 1909. The couple first set up house at 26 Violet Bank Road, Sheffield, where their first child, Barbara was born, though they were soon to move on to Leeds as both the family, and the business, expanded.

The Zimmerman sales ledger records a significant change in 1910. On 22 September, sales are to 'M Burton', but by 30 September they are to 'Burton and Burton'. This may have reflected the marriage partnership, and certainly coincided with the business moving from Sheffield to Elmwood Mills, Camp Road, Leeds. Burton and Burton continued purchasing clothing from Zimmermans until 1911, as one of the last entries in the sales ledger shows.

Between 1910 and the outbreak of war in 1914, the number of shops increased to 14, mainly in the industrial Midlands. They had sold men's ready-to-wear suits from the outset, but from 1906 had also offered a bespoke - or made-to-measure - service. This would grow to become the world's largest wholesale bespoke tailoring service.

http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/histories/jewish/working_lives/montague_burton1.htm#

Dorothy Perkins was named after a rose in 1919 - which probably explains some of the results I was getting from Google :roll:

Now I already know a bit about Laura Ashley, but I'll just check :thumbsup:

It was Audrey Hepburn who inadvertently sparked the growth of one of the world's best-loved and most successful fashion and home furnishing companies. Audrey appeared alongside Gregory Peck in the 1953 film "Roman Holiday", sporting a headscarf and so creating a style that became an instant hit around the globe. It was at exactly that time that a young couple, Laura and Bernard Ashley, were starting to produce headscarves as well as table mats and napkins on their kitchen table in a flat in Pimlico. The Ashleys had invested £10 in wood for the screen frame, dyes and a few yards of linen. The scarves were an instant success with stores such as John Lewis and Heal's and put them on the road to becoming an international company with a brand that is recognised around the globe.

More here: http://www.lauraashley.com/?AID=9785142&PID=1363389

John Boot was born in Radcliffe-On-Trent in 1815 and his early life was spent as an agricultural labourer on local farms. He travelled to attend services at the Wesleyan chapels in the Lace Market area of Nottingham and by the time of the 1851 Census had moved to Woolpack Lane in Hockley. It was a poor area and John Boot became involved in chapel affairs and local schemes to improve living conditions within his community.

Herbal remedies were popular with the labouring poor, who could not afford the services of a physician. John Boot's mother had used herbs for healing and he may also have been familiar with remedies published in John Wesley's herbal Primitive Physic. In 1849, with the assistance of his father-in-law and the support of the local Methodist community, John opened The British and American Botanic Establishment at 6 Goose Gate, hoping to provide physical comfort to the needy, as well as a reasonable living for his family.

More here: http://www.boots-plc.com/information/info.asp?Level4ID=11