Beales

Beales has a very deep-rooted relationship with Bournemouth, both as a company and as a local store. The first ever Beales store was opened in Bournemouth, on Old Christchurch Road – the same location as the following iterations of Beales Bournemouth in fact. The history of Beales itself is intertwined with the town for a large part of its existence, growing from a small-town shop to a nationwide chain and then collapsing in the late 2010s.

John Elmes Beale (1847-1928), a local businessman and future Mayor of Bournemouth from 1902-1904, opened his shop “Fancy Fair and Oriental House” on the future Beales site on Old Christchurch Road in 1881. This first shop was relatively small compared to what Beales would become, selling a small selection of small souvenirs and gifts afforded on Beale’s limited budget. Beale expanded the range throughout the early years to include pictures and memorabilia relating to Bournemouth itself.

J E Beale was dedicated to bringing in new customers through attractions and stunts. He made displays in his windows that attracted crowds, decorated his store to make people tour the shop, and held demonstrations of his products in store, which he advertised in local papers to great success. Beale was especially interested in taking advantage of the Christmas season in late November and December. In 1885 he debuted a ‘Father Christmas’ in store – his Brother in Law – who toured the shop floor interacting with customers. Beales alleges that they were the first store in the world to do so.

In later years Beales would perform many more Christmas stunts, such as in 1912 when customers would have seen their ‘Father Christmas’ fly overhead and wave to spectators, followed by his usual trips around Beales shopfloor. Beales used this as an introduction to a Christmas parade, a tradition they continued until 1965 (except during wartime). These parades included dancers, giant mock-ups of Christmas dinner, Father Christmas, and all manner of other entertainers. Roads were closed and the streets were full of spectators.

The original store may have proved popular for the time, but it didn’t last. On 23 May, 1943, the store was hit by a German bomb, destroying it. Following the Second World War, Beales was rebuilt on the site, with a new building boasting 70,000 square feet of space inside and over double the number of floors. This second iteration of Beales’ Bournemouth branch was immensely popular, stocking more variety of quantity of products, and allowing the company to expand itself further, far beyond just Bournemouth itself.

As Beales became more popular the store would introduce another longstanding promotion: sales nights. Beales customers were able to get membership cards for free, which would let them receive offers and discounts in the post throughout the year. At least once a year the store would host a sales night, where they would put new stock out early and some existing stock at a discount, but only members would be allowed in. This promotion was hugely successful, with hundreds of Bournemouth residents signing up and queuing down the street to get in on these sales nights. Customers would be able to buy brand new products and use them before the rest of the public would likely know about them, which gave the consumers a sense of prestige, having something only a select few do. This encouraged them to keep returning to Beales again and again.

Beales Bournemouth would continue to experience great success well into the 2010s, however it was not to last. Popularity of the company as a whole had declined, and Beales was in financial trouble. On 20 January 2020 the company was forced to enter administration, selling off its properties and stock. Then on 18 March, Beales closed all its stores, including the Bournemouth one. Since then the building has stood bordered up and empty, and remains unused.

Beales as a company remained a family affair for the majority of its life. John Beale passed ownership down to his son Bennett, who in turn passed it to his son (John’s grandson) Frank Beale in the mid 1980s. In 1995, Beales traded on the stock market in London, selling shares in the company’s ownership to the public for the first time. Beales would remain a PLC until 2018, when Tony Brown would bring it back to a private company. In 2020 ownership of the brand was sold to ‘New Start 2020,’ who have since reopened the Poole store as well as online shopping.

Beales’ story is one very similar to other department stores from the late 19^th century. A story of a family business building its success of unwavering customer loyalty, and dedication to giving people the best experience in store possible. But, like many other stores, the introduction of online shopping became a death toll, heightened by a pandemic stopping customers visiting in person. J E Beale ran his Fancy Fair and Oriental House on the premise of giving shoppers everything they could want in a shopping experience, and he passed that ethos on to his children and grandchildren. According to the Bournemouth Echo, upon being told that a worker had not managed to make a sale with a customer, J E Beale responded, “But did you make a friend?” This attitude to business is what kept customers returning to Beales, the knowledge that even if they did not get what they came for, they would have a good time. Beales workers would be friendly, offer assistance and go out of their way to help customers in the name of building a good rapport.

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Sources and further reading:

Beal, Sophie. “Bringing Christmas to Bournemouth.” Dorset Life. December 16, 2016. https://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2016/12/bringing-christmas-to-bournemouth/.

Morris, Steven. “‘Beales is part of our history’: shoppers on landmark store’s woes.” The Guardian. January 26, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/26/beales-is-part-of-our-history-shoppers-on-landmark-stores-woes.

Saunders, Tim. “Beales’ brand of improvement.” Bournemouth Echo. October 6, 2008. https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/2457827.beales-brand-of-improvement/.

Slade, Darren. “134 years of Beales: a look at the department store’s long history.” Bournemouth Echo. February 19, 2015. https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/11800746.134-years-of-beales-a-look-at-the-department-stores-long-history/.

Slade, Darren. “PICTURES: When the Beales Christmas parades brought Bournemouth to a standstill.” Bournemouth Echo. December 18, 2016. https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/14973618.pictures-when-the-beales-christmas-parades-brought-bournemouth-to-a-standstill/.

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