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241:, thus increasing the level of competition in Reading. On Sunday 2 September 2001, as part of a wider company rebranding, the store's name was changed from Heelas to John Lewis. It was also the first time the shop had opened on a Sunday. Managing director Felicity Miller retired on 1 September. All the in-store and external signage was changed, but the name Heelas can still be seen where it was built into the external brickwork of the 1979 building. The renaming caused some local controversy, as some people felt the town was losing a part of its history. John Lewis continues to thrive in Reading where many stores have left or gone into receivership.
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Heelas was put on display in the shop. The building work started in
December 1979 and was split into three phases, allowing the shop to continue trading throughout the period. While the front (Broad Street) of the store dating from 1907 was little changed, the earlier rear (Minster Street) was demolished and replaced with a new five-storey building with an
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The shop was rebuilt in 1907 and the directors were confident that the 'handsome well-arranged buildings would add to the great comfort of the customers'. Both John and Daniel Heelas died in 1910; their successors, John Heelas Junior and Edward Heelas, inherited a thriving business. Heelas became a
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Over the last few years and since Covid struck, John Lewis
Reading has encouraged external companies to buy space in its store. Ori Café and David Clulow opticians were located where the Haberdashery dept was previously located, on the mezzanine floor. From the 9th October 2023 John Lewis Reading
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At the time of John Lewis' takeover, the store was the largest shop in
Berkshire. With the business continuing to grow, however, the shop eventually became seen as too small and in need of expansion. Ambitious redevelopment plans were announced in 1975 and a large-scale model of the re-envisaged
191:, set up the new business in 1854 with his sons, John and Daniel. They described themselves as 'Linen and Woollen Drapers, Silk Mercers etc..'. Over the years they acquired adjacent properties and by 1877 the business had become a department store.
256:. This allows John Lewis Reading to display The Queen's coat of arms, together with the words "By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen, Suppliers of Household and Fancy Goods", on the store's building, vehicles and stationery.
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major entity in
Reading, and in 1937, the John Lewis Partnership entered into takeover discussions with the department store. These did not work out, but in 1947 Heelas was sold to
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who, in turn, sold it to the John Lewis
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Heelas started in
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will become the first store to have The Floor Room taking over the existing Carpet department.
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Selected royal warrant holders of the
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318:"Berkshire Bygones: Find out what made the news in 1975"
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229:In 1999 a major new shopping and leisure centre,
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42:improve this article
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356:26 September
354:. Retrieved
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325:. Retrieved
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40:Please help
35:verification
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