For generations a much loved department store was once the go-to for Christmas shopping and a spot of luxurious lunch.
Beatties on Grange Road in Birkenhead was a department store where shoppers could find everything they wanted from perfume, to makeup to haberdashery and toys. It even boasted a silver service restaurant where white gloved waiting staff served lunch to hungry shoppers.
Before opening as Beatties, the store was once Allansons, another department store. Beatties was founded in 1877 and had grown from a small family drapery business in Wolverhampton to a department store with an excellent reputation for customer service.
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It had a company policy which was rooted in excellent customer service. The policy said: "To provide the customer with a good range of well chosen, good value merchandise.
"To offer this to the public in attractive surroundings, backed by pleasant and effective service, and in an atmosphere of complete integrity and responsibility. To demonstrate at all times a genuine desire to please".
In 2005, when it had 12 stores, the group was acquired by House of Fraser, but in 2020 this too sadly closed. Plans are to move Birkenhead Market into the former House of Fraser building by the end of 2024.
Many ECHO readers shared their happy memories of the department store, including some people who had worked there. Writing on the ECHO's My Wirral Facebook page, many people said how they "loved" shopping there.
Yvonne Grannon said: "I worked there for five years and it was always so busy and the restaurant and coffee bar were a great place to go for lovely food."
Lyndsey Maclean added: "I used to work there from 1991-93, loved it. The first department I worked on had all the clocks etc on it and when we answered the phone we had to say "furniture, accessories, cutlery and clocks, how may I help you?"
Moira Joan also said: "What a great store! Free parking and good old fashioned service. I used to visit on a Saturday afternoon with my mum. We went to the cosmetics counters and they all knew mums name! We always went to the café but rarely the silver service one. Great times."
Fiona Jephson said: "Sitting at the tall tables in the haberdashery department while my mum looked at sewing patterns, the record department… bought my first single there, Summer Nights, still have it… the rocking horse, the café… being allowed to sit on the tall stools at the counter (and blowing bubbles through the straw in my drink), the ladies powder room (very posh). So many memories of Beatties from the 70s/80s."
Many people also described the sheer joy the toy department on the first floor brought them.
Janine Taylor said: "The toy department was amazing, had a lovely atmosphere, just a really good vibe, many happy hours spent browsing. What a shell it is now, sad beyond belief."
Victoria Ledsham added: "Oh the toy department on the first floor was magical in the early seventies. Huge display of Paddington Bears one Christmas, but Father Christmas didn't deliver."
Rory Mckeown also said: "Beatties had the best toy department in the sixties, loved spending my Xmas and Birthday money there."
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