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