Schofields (department store)
| Department store | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Takeover by House of Fraser |
| Founded | 1901 |
| Defunct | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Leeds, England |
|
Key people
|
Snowden Schofield, Ronald Schofield (Snowden's son, died 1969), Peter Dawson Schofield, (Snowden's son, died 1996) |
Schofields was a department store that operated on The Headrow in Leeds, England, from 1901 to 1996. For much of the 20th century Schofields was regarded as being the pinnacle of shopping in Leeds city centre.
The site is now home to The Core, formerly The Headrow Centre. Schofields also had department stores in Harrogate (an acquisition of a former Debenhams department store, named Cresta House, on James Street), Skipton (an acquisition of the former Ledgard & Wynn department store) and Sheffield (a 1972 acquisition of the Cockaynes department store on Angel Street) [1]. The Sheffield store closed in 1982 and now trades as Argos on the ground floor with offices on the upper floors and the Harrogate branch now trades as Hoopers. The only visible evidence pointing to the existence of Schofields in Leeds was a NCP multi-storey car park, located near to the former department store premises, on Albion Street that continued to use the name of 'Schofields Car Park' despite the demise of this department store (but was rebranded in 2009 as "The Core" car park).
The store was founded by Snowden Schofield on Saturday 4 May 1901 in a single unit as a "fancy drapers and milliners" with a staff of two then expanded in the following years into other units. The premises were originally a mixture of Victorian era buildings which included a shopping arcade, called the Victoria Arcade, running through the store.
The Leeds store was rebuilt in 1962 in a modernist style typical of the era. In September 1984 the business was sold to Clayform Properties Ltd who had intended to redevelop the site but planning permission was not granted. In 1988 the store was sold to the Al Fayed brothers who also owned Harrods and were then owners of House of Fraser. Following this, the store, whilst retaining the Schofields name, became part of the House of Fraser chain . This led to the 1987 reconstruction of the 1960s store which included reducing the size of the actual store and creating an adjoining shopping centre which became known as the Schofields Centre. During the construction work Schofields was located on Briggate in a former Woolworths store. With the opening of the new Schofields in 1990 it was decided that the temporary store on Briggate would be retained by the company and be known as Rackhams, another trading name used by House of Fraser. The new Schofields on The Headrow closed down on 27 July 1996 due to competition from the other House of Fraser store on Briggate and as a result of consolidation by House of Fraser as a whole. This Briggate store is now known simply as House of Fraser.
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Wikipedia