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Simpsons of Piccadilly

1936 establishments in EnglandArt Deco architecture in LondonBookshops in LondonBritish Royal Warrant holdersBritish companies established in 1936
Buildings and structures on PiccadillyCompanies based in the City of WestminsterDefunct department stores of the United KingdomGrade II* listed buildings in the City of WestminsterGrade II* listed retail buildingsReal estate companies established in 1936Retail buildings in LondonRetail companies established in 1936Shops in LondonTourist attractions in the City of WestminsterUse British English from March 2017
Simpsons of Piccadilly 2005
Simpsons of Piccadilly 2005

Simpsons of Piccadilly was a large retail store situated at 203-206 Piccadilly in central London. It was created by Alexander Simpson and architect Joseph Emberton. When it opened in April 1936 it was the largest menswear store in Britain, and is now a Grade I listed building due to its innovative construction. Its original purpose was to house the entire range of clothing provided by the tailoring company S. Simpsons and DAKS. It was later purchased by the Waterstones chain of bookshops, and currently serves as their flagship store.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Simpsons of Piccadilly (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Simpsons of Piccadilly
Piccadilly, City of Westminster Mayfair

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N 51.5092 ° E -0.1361 °
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Waterstones

Piccadilly 203-206
W1J 9HD City of Westminster, Mayfair
England, United Kingdom
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waterstones.com

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Simpsons of Piccadilly 2005
Simpsons of Piccadilly 2005
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St James's Hall
St James's Hall

St. James's Hall was a concert hall in London that opened on 25 March 1858, designed by architect and artist Owen Jones, who had decorated the interior of the Crystal Palace. It was situated between the Quadrant in Regent Street and Piccadilly, and Vine Street and George Court. There was a frontage on Regent Street, and another in Piccadilly. Taking the orchestra into account, the main hall had seating for slightly over 2,000 persons. It had a grand hall 140 feet (43 m) long and 60 feet (18 m) broad, the seating was distributed between ground floor, balcony, gallery and platform and it had excellent acoustics. On the ground floor were two smaller halls, one 60 feet (18 m) square; the other 60 feet (18 m) by 55 feet (17 m). The Hall was decorated in the 'Florentine' style, with features imitating the great Moorish Palace of the Alhambra. The Piccadilly facade was given a Gothic design, and the complex of two restaurants and three halls was hidden behind Nash's Quadrant. Sir George Henschel recalled its 'dear old, uncomfortable, long, narrow, green-upholstered benches (pale-green horse-hair) with the numbers of the seats tied over the straight backs with bright pink tape, like office files.'The Hall was built jointly by two music publishing firms, Chappell & Co. and Cramer & Co., in the hope of attracting the growing audiences for fine musical performances that attended the Crystal Palace and the halls being built in the provinces. It stood empty for nearly a year after its opening. For almost half a century thereafter, the Hall was London's principal concert hall, to be succeeded by Queen's Hall in the 1900s and later by Wigmore Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall. It became famous for its 'Monday Pops' concerts and Ballad Concerts, as the home of the Philharmonic Society and the Christy Minstrels and for the many famous conductors and performers who gave important performances there.

Swan & Edgar
Swan & Edgar

Swan & Edgar Ltd was a department store, located at Piccadilly Circus on the western side between Piccadilly and Regent Street established in the early 19th century and closed in 1982. Wiliam Edgar ran a haberdashery stall in St James Market, before meeting George Swan. They first opened a shop together in Ludgate Hill which Swan had been operating, but moved to 20 Piccadilly in 1812. They then moved to 49 Regent Street when their former site was demolished to make way for Piccadilly Circus, which had been the home to the Western Mail coach offices and the Bull & Mouth public house. Swan died in 1821, however Edgar continued to use the name. By 1848 the premises had expanded to 45–51 and the entire corner of Piccadilly Circus. In 1886, the old "partnership" businesses of Messrs Swan and Edgar and Messrs Halling, Pearce and Stone were acquired and amalgamated into a new Company named Waterloo House and Swan and Edgar (Limited). The directors of the new Company were John Swayne Pearce Esq (Chairman), Edward G. Stone Esq & Lewis Edgar Esq with two others to be elected by the shareholders at the first general meeting. In 1896, the capital of the company was reduced following a resolution passed on April 21 and the name was changed to Swan and Edgar (Limited).The premises were rebuilt and integrated in 1910–20 to a design by Sir Reginald Blomfield with the interior designed by Murray Adams-Acton. It became a popular place of assignation for Londoners for many generations: under the clock outside the department store, or sometimes the restaurant on the first floor, were often cited as meeting places. The store sold very high quality goods including the popular Merrythought teddy bear. The shop-front was one of the West End businesses targeted by the Suffragettes in their window-breaking spree on 21 November 1911. The store was hit in the last Zeppelin raid on London on 19 October 1917 and again rebuilt and remodelled in 1919, by Louis David Blanc and John James Joass.In 1920, during a period of difficult trading for the industry, Swan and Edgar (Limited) was acquired by Harrods' Stores Limited for a reported sum of £600,000.In 1927, the business was taken over by the Drapery Trust, which became part of Debenham Group in the 1970s. It was Debenhams that closed it in 1982 because of the high cost of modernisation. The building lay empty for a few years until it became the flagship UK store for Tower Records. In 2003, it was bought by Richard Branson of the Virgin Group and became a Virgin Megastore. The Virgin name disappeared in 2007 and was replaced by Zavvi but Zavvi went into receivership in 2009. The Sting, a fashion department store with branches in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, opened in the building in July 2010.