Store Crawl: Broadbents & Boothroyds (Southport)

Location - Lord Street, Southport (Next Door to Wayfarers Arcade)

Owner - Beales

Est - 1825

History - Broadbents was orignally on Chapel Street (19) in the lavish Victorian unit now occupied by BHS. The store merged with Boothroyds on Lord Street in the 1970s/ early 80s. It got bought out by Owen Owen in the late 1980s and was sold to Beales PLC in 1994. Like other Beales stores, the store offically changed it's name to Beales in 2011. Signage has been put up saying, "formerly Broadbents and Boothroyds". It also has a very fashionable menswear label named after the store.

      This nice little Aladdin's cave of a store is situtated on Southports main and famous shopping street, Lord Street. It has a big cosmetics hall, Ladies Fashions, menswear, bags, hoisery and watch repairs on the ground floor. The menswear department is complete with it's own "Broadbents & Boothroyds" fashion range, which I have to say is just as good and up to the minute as any other label. I liked it because I like the fact they are once again using this classic brand to sell menswear. Being in my 20s, I like my clothes to be fashionable, yet it retains that sense of granduer that many menswear brands dont have. I plunged and bought 3 items - I am skint and I don't do clothes shopping, but yep, it made even me buy.

   We then went up to the 1st floor - This floor has ladies formal wear, shoes, luggage and lingerie. I must say that nothing here floats my boat, so we went up to the next floor.

   This floor has Homewears, a large Cookshop and Toy department, gift store, linens, Towels- need  I say more. It also has a restaurant where you can look out on to Lord Street and it's gardens.

  
The ground floor and First floor has entrances into the famous Wayfarers Arcade - which for those of you who have never been to Southport, this large grand Victorian glazed shopping arcade, has lots of  nice indie retailers including Kernaghan Books, Vintage Home and Pudding & Pie Restaurant.

Quirks - It has nice curved staircases, Large Mahognay Shopfront in the Wayfarers and has then doors at the top of the stairs that used to always get when visiting large stores.

All in all, a good store that is very localised for a such a large chain retailer. I just hope it stays that way with Beales constantly expanding. I would be good to see some more nods to the history of the store, prehaps in the restaurant, like House of Fraser have done in Kendals 6th Floor in Manchester.