A look at the history of British department store Allders which has today collapsed into administration.
Timeline
- 1862: Allders is established by Joshua Allder in Croydon
- 1908: The Allder family sells the business
- 1958: The business is acquired by United Drapery Stores which eventually converted all its department stores into the Allders name
- 1983: Allders is sold to Hanson PLC
- 1993: Allders is floated on the stockmarket, beginning a phase of rapid expansion and acquisition
- 1997: Allders acquires the bankrupt Maples furniture brand and seven of its retail outlets
- 1998: Shares crash after disappointing sales, falling more than a quarter from 189.5p to 141.5p
- 2003: Scarlett Retail Group, a consortium led by property group Minerva and investment bank Lehman Brothers, buys Allders for £162m. Ex-Bhs boss Terry Green becomes chief executive
- 2004: Allders posts a pre-tax loss of £30m for the year to June 2004
- 2005: 7,000 jobs are put at risk after the retailer collapses into administration. It had 45 stores at the time.
- 2005: Harold Tillman rescues the retailer out of administration, buying the Allders name and the Croydon flagship store
- 2007: Tillman buys three Owen Owen stores to begin the resurrection of the brand’s store estate
- 2008: The first store outside Croydon opens, under the Allders Beds name, at Biggleswade in Bedfordshire
- 2011: Launches transactional website
- 2012: Allders Croydon collapses into administration
- July 2012: It emerges former own Harold Tillman, turnaround specialist Hilco and department store group Beales are in the running to buy the retailer.
- August 2012: Uncertainty over the future of Croydon’s city centre scheme Whitgift is understood to be clouding any potential deal, according to a report to creditors.
- September 2012: Administrator Duff & Phelps reveal that the final potential bidder has pulled out of the sale process and that the store will close on September 22.
Allders collapses into administration
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- 2Currently reading
Allders timeline: Charting the company's history
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