The Evolution of Bournemouth High Street
History of the High Street
W H Smith was founded in 1828 after a newspaper stand formerly owned by William Henry Smith’s grandparents was expanded to sell stationery. Later, Smith and his son signed a contract with the expanding London and North Western Railway for station bookstalls where passengers could buy and rent books and newspapers for their train journeys. Being forward thinkers, the company soon expanded to an unprecedented two-hundred and ninety branches across the nation by 1870. Distribution of newspapers expanded from Smith’s grandfather’s humble paper round to wholesale newspaper depots in four cities across Britain and by 1902 there were over a thousand railway bookstalls. William Henry also invented the billboard by renting walls in train stations for large advertisements. In the early twentieth century, W H Smith made its way onto the high street opening 144 stores after rental disagreements forced them out of 250 stations. Moving through the twentieth century the store changed with the times and said goodbye to their libraries but made way for the ISBN classification system for which we have the chin to thank. Soon enough there was a W H Smith in 100 motorway service stations.
From 1856 to 1864 John Lewis worked in Peter Robinson’s (now known as Topshop) but ended this career path when he rented a small shop where he would selling haberdashery and ribbons for reasonable prices and later linens and fabrics as well. In 1895, with his profits from decades of hard work, he built a three-story building, employing 150 members of staff and founded something closely resembling the John Lewis department store we recognise today.
The High Street’s Place in the Community
‘She used to melt my heart, the way she’d come with these cuddly toys.’
Dave Dixon, in an interview about his and his daughters memories of Beales in Bournemouth and Poole.
Having lived in Bournemouth and Poole all their lives, Dave and Natalie remember the developments and changes to the high streets and town centres over many decades. As a child Dave absolutely loved the model trains and the toy section of department stores. Decades later, his daughter Natalie shared a familiar love for the same toy section in Beales in Bournemouth. The pair recounted a heart-warming story of not being able to resist a young Natalie’s plea for a cuddly toy with it being sent straight to Father Christmas.
Many people who grew up in the Bournemouth and Poole area were keen to share their memories and photos of Beales on the Memories of Old Bournemouth and Poole Facebook page. The page offers a wealth of knowledge, anecdotes and queries which are met with a multitude of locals eager to share their reminiscences and information. Here are some of the memories recounted below.
Loved the store – from being a child and going to see Father Christmas and then later the fabulous collection of Barbie clothes they sold. As a teenager, THE place to be on a Saturday morning was the Rooftop Shop, where you could have a coffee whilst browsing the up to the minute clothes. I also remember my mother choosing clothes in the Ladies’ Department and being allowed to take them home to try on approval!
Sally Guilmant Lincoln on the Memories of Old Bournemouth and Poole Facebook Group.
Wonderful memories of visiting the toy dept in Beales in Bournemouth in the 1960’s. Shop assistants standing behind glass cabinets full of doll accessories including pairs of socks & shoes of all colours placed in size order for any doll you may own.
Sue Shearing Errington on the Memories of Old Bournemouth and Poole Facebook Group.
My wife and I would shop in Beales, Bealesons, Brights and JJ Allen where service was always impeccable. The wives/girlfriends would be trying on clothes while the menfolk would be ushered to comfy couches and plied with free tea and coffee to wait for them with assorted fishing and motoring magazines on the coffee tables in front of them.
Tony Brown on the Memories of Old Bournemouth and Poole Facebook Group.
Along with other big towns, Bournemouth high street featured a Borders and Dave and his children loved visiting the store which was not an unpopular opinion considering it was named ‘Usborne Children’s Bookseller of the Year 2008’ along with other awards. Dave’s children reportedly loved the films, books and CDs. The link above takes you to photos of the store being constructed in April 1999 and the building that stood in the same spot many years before. Borders welcomed many famous authors to Bournemouth including David Attenborough and Jaqueline Wilson when its stores were open from April 2000 to December 2009. Unfortunately, it closed down in December 2009.
In 2020 another high street chain went into administration, sadly a store that was a large and adored part of the Bournemouth and Poole community. Beales went into administration in early 2020 and after being unable to find a buyer all 23 branches were closed later in the year. The Poole store, however, was bought in August last year and Tony Brown (former Beales CEO) was hired to manage the store. The Bournemouth branch, formerly the biggest department store in Bournemouth, has closed for good but at least the Poole branch remains.
‘During the lockdown I went on a lot of walks I haven’t done before.’
Dave Dixon remarking that the lockdown in May 2020 presented the opportunity to see the high street he knew so well differently.
The Decline of High Street Stores
With factors like the development of online shopping, the high street has been in decline for a while but with the national lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic the high street may now be in danger. May high street household names such as Toys R Us, Woolworths, Borders, Safeway and Blockbuster suffered and closed long before the Covid pandemic due to changes in the way we shop for non-essential items but the coronavirus outbreak in 2020 may have catalysed the decline with sales at their lowest for twenty years given most non-essential shops have had to remain closed for a lot of 2020 and so far all of 2021. Victims of the pandemic include Cath Kidston, Carphone Warehouse, Mothercare, Evans and DW sport, and experts are warning it will continue into this year.
Sources and Further Reading
Thorburn, Gordon. Remembering the High Street: A Nostalgic Look at Famous Names. Pen and Sword Books, February 2012.
“End of story as Bournemouth Borders store closes”. Bournemouth Daily Echo. 23 December 2009.
“PICTURES: Remembering Bournemouth’s Borders store (and how it looked before)”. Bournemouth Daily Echo. 1 February 2020.
“From Woolworths to BHS: the famous shops which have disappeared from the high street”. Bournemouth Daily Echo. 22 March 2018.
Whitelocks, Sadie. “The beloved retailers which disappeared from the UK High Street in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic”. This is Money. 28 December 2020.
“Retail sales in 2020 ‘worst for 25 years’”. BBC News. 12 January 2021.