ISBN 979-8507910199 RRP £9.99
The Lewis and Hyland firm was one of
the best known and revered chain of stores in the southeast of England for 150
years. The founders, George Alexander Lewis and Frederick Hyland, were amongst
the many pioneers of the department store alongside the likes of Harrods, Peter
Jones and Harding, Howell & Co. They were also great benefactors to the
communities and the towns they were in, but their contribution has been largely
forgotten.
The book attempts to put this right
by chronicling the phenomenal rise, expansion and popularity of the firm which
became the leading Kentish drapery house in the Victorian and Edwardian period.
They employed thousands of staff, trained hundreds of apprentices and brought
prosperity. Unbelievably their landmark stores in Ramsgate and Folkestone
rivalled the fashion houses of London and Paris at one point.
The author uses a multitude of sources to piece together the
firm’s history from its beginnings in 1834 to when its last
store closed its doors in 1986. It brings to life the staff who worked for
them, how the firm treated them and why they were successful. It is a unique
insight into the life and times of a Victorian retail empire.
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