{"id":1000,"date":"2022-02-10T11:53:57","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T11:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/?p=1000"},"modified":"2023-04-04T15:09:59","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T14:09:59","slug":"a-consumer-experience-of-debenhams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/a-consumer-experience-of-debenhams\/","title":{"rendered":"A Consumer Experience of Debenhams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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First opened in 1972, and located in Bournemouth Square, Debenham\u2019s quickly became a major department store within Bournemouth. Taking the place of Bobby\u2019s & Co, it had a big name to live up to, but throughout the 80s, Debenham\u2019s made some big changes in shaping the consumer experience and soon became a pioneer of change within department stores and the high street.
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Priding themselves on the customer experience, Debenham\u2019s made sure that each visit to the store was unique to each and every customer. Personalisation of visits ensured that plenty of people came back every week. Store clerks were often instructed to approach customers, assisting with their visits, and offering a helping hand to those who needed it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debenham\u2019s was also one of the first department stores to introduce personal credit for shoppers. This meant lengthy paperwork for the employees, but for the customer the application was seamless. Personal credit with Debenham\u2019s ensured customers enjoyed savings exclusive to members, and the option for a \u2018buy now \u2013 pay later,\u2019 s\u00a7omething so commonly found in today\u2019s retail world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The front of Debenham’s. Photo Credit: Alwyn Ladell. <\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Consumer experience was also enhanced by unique and different departments \u2013 something that Beales done so well and specialised in. Debenham\u2019s ensured that food-halls were set up, allowing customers to dine in, allowing people to spend more time in the shop \u2013 no one was made to feel rushed; customers could shop in their own time.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the late 1980s, Debenham\u2019s were involved in a merger with the Burton Group. With Debenham\u2019s offering customers multiple shares in the company in exchange for a share of the Burton Group. In many ways this was proof that the country was changing, with the customers experiencing the financial and business aspect of department stores being on forefront of their daily, weekly, or monthly visits. Despite this, Debenham\u2019s ensured that the customer experience was not dampened in the slightest, with further ventures into make-up and accessories, well recognised brands newly on sale, and even ventures in to wedding dress sales.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Throughout the 1990s, Debenham\u2019s remained on the forefront of department stores, making little changes to their already winning formula. With more stores opening up and down the country, Debenham\u2019s become bigger than they ever had before, enticing more consumers in coming to the store, not just as a quick visit, but as a day trip out, something the whole family could enjoy, and something they could all benefit from.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo: Alwyn Ladell<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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During the holiday seasons, Debenham\u2019s ensured they offered benefits for their younger customers, with the opportunity of meeting \u2018Father Christmas,\u2019 and his elves. This further ensured Debenham\u2019s incredibly important role on the high street and provided a model to other stores as to what a department store should really be.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite all the success that Debenham\u2019s enjoyed, they were forever reminded of the store that come before them: Bobbys & Co. Railings including the letter B, and statues dating back to when Bobbys stood tall and proud.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debenhams success did not last forever, with the company being placed into administration in 2019. Debenham\u2019s department stores up and down the country closing due to the financial troubles the company had found themselves in. Despite this, the customer experience never faulted, with the company still offering the famous experience they always promised to do, despite the pandemic being in full swing and having vast effects on the customer experience of the high street and department stores. Closing down sales meant that customers flocked to Debenham\u2019s, experiencing Debenham\u2019s one final time.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debenhams\u2019s today however, serves as a relic of the past, with the return of the store that stood before it; Bobbys & Co. Whilst Debenham\u2019s may be gone today, their inspiration to other stores still exist, with many stores borrowing ideas and building on what Debenham\u2019s so beautifully and elegantly done.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Sources and Further Reading<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/alwyn_ladell\/6313561236\/in\/album-72157628053995712\/<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/alwyn_ladell\/6313023773\/in\/photostream\/<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/alwyn_ladell\/50979774356\/in\/album-72157628053995712\/<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • http:\/\/www.fundinguniverse.com\/company-histories\/debenhams-plc-history\/<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    First opened in 1972, and located in Bournemouth Square, Debenham\u2019s quickly became a major department store within Bournemouth. Taking the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":1208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"coauthors":[37],"class_list":["post-1000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-department-stores","comments-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1000"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1322,"href":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000\/revisions\/1322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1000"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birst.co.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}