Kennards of Croydon: The Store that Entertained to Sell: A History of a Debenhams Store

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It was quite crowded up there as the balcony was not that wide, which put you quite close to the animals, although I never heard of anybody getting bitten. As an added attraction, a pair of lion cubs were put on display for a limited time and, although too young to harm the public, I did notice at one stage the door of the large cage was kept shut with a garden broom." A popular story is the store once provided all the uniforms for the Royal Air Force, and one time French aristocrats apparently flew into Croydon just to buy clothing. Ruth Pathalias: Kennedy's! I used to go there every weekend with my dad after a visit to Surrey Street Market! They just don't do butchers like that anymore!

Remnants and oddments of material being sold by the pound at Kennard's store during the Second World War

Kennards were one of the first UK business to use publicity to sell its goods. In the 1920s Kennards introduced Pony rides for children in store, which continued to run until 1966. [1] Its main Croydon branch on North End was notable for the full-length windows which ran the length of the store A brand new pet shop, on the second floor was opened. It had space, light and carpet on the floor and about ten tropical fish tanks in a window bay. If you think the pneumatic railway sounds like a damp squib, wait until you hear about some of Croydon's other great inventions. Among the gizmos coined by Croydonites are: the 'baby billiard table'; the' water bike'; a basket for milk bottles that can be attached to your letterbox; and the 'man-lifting kite'. Now we can hardly imagine life without them... 4. Charlie Chaplin was once kidnapped at Croydon Airport Kinematograph Weekly, 13 October 1921. From British Newspaper Archive He told a reporter that he would always remember the day he left as "ironic", as it was the day Elvis Presley died.

The store kept with the founders principle for selling reliable goods at very low profit margins, which along with aiming its goods at women meant that the store was popular with working class women. [1]A young crowd used to frequent this Purley pub and had a reputation as a spot for a cheeky lunchtime pint. I saw countless bands at The Rex and The Fairfield Halls, Roy Orbison, The Beatles, The Stones, all the Liverpool bands. Also on the last night of the beautiful Whitgift School I went to a concert by local band Peter Frampton and the Herd. First opening in 1862, the store became the first flagship store of a chain across England, after Joshua Allder established it in Croydon.

For many years The Good Companions pub in Hamsey Green was popular with families to dine out at the weekend but eventually trade declined and it closed in 2012. As Croydon was regenerated after World War One, the iconic Savoy Theatre was built at 225 London Road. Sharon Bruce: The Focus cinema on Crown Hill where my dad would leave us and we had to meet him at The Dog and Bull pub in Surrey Street where he bought us coke and sausage and tomato crisps. We watched all the Disney films there and the ABC cinema on London Road. It was later turned into Safari and we also went to Odeon where we watched Escape To Witch Mountain. Saturday mornings were great. I would love running up the walking escalator to The Forum pub in the Whitgift Centre and meeting Dad there. Best days ever. Australian actor Barney Worth at the Kennards Christmas Show in Wimbledon, where he was playing the part of Santa Claus in November 1941. Worth weighed 42 stone, making him one of the largest Santas in London. The store claimed he was the largest in the world!

That's right, before Norwood Junction was Norwood Junction, it was named Jolly-sailor — after the local boozer. And the Jolly-sailor played a particularly interesting role in rail history; it was part of Croydon's atmospheric railway — a pioneering, if ultimately flawed, piece of kit that propelled trains from one pumping station to the next, via a vacuum in a pipe laid in between the rails, attached to a piston on the bottom of the train. (Jolly-sailor was home to one such pumping station). The railway was opened in 1845, but shut down by 1847 — in part due to the fact rats kept gnawing through the equipment. 3. Lots of mediocre things were invented by Croydonites It couldn't last forever though. In 1928, Kennards was bought by the Drapery Trust around the time that Debenhams had acquired Drapery Trust. But whilst its true that after the Second World War, business declined, the store was not rebranded as a Debenham's store until 1973. Unlike many other pubs and clubs in south London, the Blue Orchid was open until 3am, and these long opening hours combined with cheap Smirnoff Ices, iconic carpet patterns and the fact that you could easily get in with a fake ID made it irresistible to young partygoers.

Built in 1935 it was one of the first outdoor pools to boast heating and had lighting on the floors. Despite suffering significant damage in the Second World War, the shop battled on and stayed open until 2012, when it went into administration. Gill Griffin: The old Kennards with its arcade and donkey rides. Grants where I had fish and chips with my nan and aunt on Saturdays. Turtles where you could buy the most unlikely items and Allders in its heyday when it was a proper department store that sold puppets and pianos. Brian Simmons: Memory Lane Records behind the Drummond Centre. A fairly recent departure but that was a great little shop. Opening in 1934, you may have once upon a time been there for dates or trips out with friends. Sadly it closed on May 13, 1999 and was reopened as residential flats.But Croydon did have a station called "Jolly-sailor" Jolly-sailor station in 1845, the atmospheric pumping station, with its gothic chimney/exhaust vent, in the foreground. Image: public domain Kennards was a small department store chain that was started in 1853, founded on the principle of selling reliable goods at low profit margins.