Is there anyone out there who can remember rainwear shops back in the late fifties? Kendalls? There was one in Kettering and one in Northampton.
Inkman1943
Robin writes: I knew the two Nottingham shops existed in the 1940's, one in Milton Street and the other I think was in Lister Gate or nearby. The Derby Shop was in St James Street. I could never pass these shops without looking in their windows displaying gorgeous mackintoshes. They were also well known also for their umbrellas!
See also the chronical entry for 1952 and my letter Enigma.
RegardsRobin
Hi Inkman
The firms we have listed on this site as you may know are here
One or two chain shops are there including Kendalls which might well have had branches in the places you mention.
The full note on Kendalls reads:
Kendalls
There was a small firm in Luton called Kendall with the by-line 'Kendall keeps you dry'. My first mac was a lovely rubber-lined grey cotton coat with a tartan collar which kept me more than dry for several years. No trace of it now and I don't know when it went out of business. (Anton)
(Someone suggested Kendall was a chain in fact - ? LE)
Bryan says it is 'a chain in the North' - LE
Yes, I am sure that Kendalls was a chain of shops. During the 1950's and probably earlier, they had no less than three shops in Bournemouth. All had good displays of mackintoshes at reasonable prices. I think they must have closed during the 1960's. (PM)
Yes! I realize now - Kendalls became NEXT. A Gentleman's Tailors called J.Hepworth & Son was established in Leeds in 1864, and this bought out the Kendalls chain of rainwear shops in 1981 and turned it into NEXT. NEXT, launching in 1981 or 1982 (both dates are quoted, haven't found out yet which is right), widened the range to cover womenswear generally (later of course it widened still further to take in menswear, childrenwear and 'homeware').
Info from The Catalogue Shop - don't know where they got it from.
LE
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