Fenwick

Fenwick's began as a Mantle Maker and Furrier, founded in 1882 by John James Fenwick. Born in Richmond, North Yorkshire in 1846, Fenwick had been a shop assistant in his father's grocer's shop, and an apprentice draper, but in 1881 or 1882 he opened his own shop in Newcastle. Initially the shop's premises were a former doctor's house at 5 Northumberland Street, purchased for £181 and 4 shillings. The shop sold fabrics, silk, clothes and trimmings. The business soon expanded into numbers 37, 38 and 40 Northumberland Street, and this remains the chain's flagship store. John's eldest son Fred Fenwick joined the business in 1890. Fred had trained in retail in Paris and is said to have been inspired by Le Bon Marché, which is regarded as one of the first ever department stores.

Fenwick has since expanded its operations. In 1888, it opened a store in Sunderland, but it closed within the year. In 1891, it opened a branch in Bond Street, London. The first fashion store on the street, it later doubled in size in 1980.

The company bought the Joseph Johnson store in Leicester in 1962, which was subsequently rebranded as Fenwick. Fenwick was an anchor department store for the 1976 opening of Brent Cross Shopping Centre in London, which was the first large out-of-town shopping centre in the UK.

A further store was opened in Oxford on the site of the F Cape & Co department store in 1978.

Outlets in Windsor and York followed in 1980 and 1984 respectively, with a limited range of departments, specialising in clothing, fashion accessories and cosmetics. The Ricemans store in Canterbury was acquired in 1986, and rebranded Fenwick in 2003. The Tunbridge Wells store opened in 1992 as part of the Royal Victoria Place development.

21st century

In 2001, Fenwick acquired the Bentalls group of department stores for £70.8 million, with stores in Kingston upon Thames, Worthing, Ealing, Bracknell, Tonbridge and Lakeside. The Lakeside store was closed, and three branches (Worthing, Ealing and Tonbridge) were subsequently sold to J E Beale, with Fenwick retaining only the stores in Kingston upon Thames and Bracknell. The Bentalls name was retained at the Kingston store until 2023, when it was rebranded as Fenwicks.

In 2007, Fenwick purchased Williams & Griffin, an independent department store in Colchester, Essex; this continued to trade under the Williams & Griffin name until a 2016 refurbishment, after which it adopted the Fenwick identity.

On 5 January 2017, Mark Fenwick announced that the historic Leicester store was to close. The store closed in March 2017.

Fenwick has its headquarters at the original Fenwick department store in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne. The company operates eight outlets across England (January 2024): Newcastle upon Tyne, Bracknell, Brent Cross Shopping Centre in London, Canterbury, Colchester, Kingston upon Thames, Royal Tunbridge Wells and York as well as online.

In 2022, the Bond Street store was put up for sale at £500 million, listed as a 'redevelopment opportunity' after the COVID-19 pandemic foiled plans for the Fenwick family to sell the chain entirely. The store will close in February 2024.

The London Head Office is now located on 103 Wigmore Street, 2nd Floor, W1U 1QS.

Fenwick Newcastle

The original and flagship store in the group occupies a large site in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne. The store has expanded many times since its foundation in 1882 and now consists of several interconnected buildings with entrances onto Northumberland Street, Eldon Square, Monument Metro Station and Blackett Street.