Beales department store in Bournemouth in Hampshire, now Dorset, was founded in 1881 on the Old Christchurch Road. Initially know as the ‘Fancy Fair and Oriental House’, the shop grew into one of the landmark buildings and brands in Bournemouth.
Generations of Beales headed up the company, one of whom, Frank Beale (d. 2001) went to train at Macy’s in New York and introduced some American approaches to customer service upon his return.
Beales was bombed during the Second World War but was re-built on the same site. The shop claimed to be the first in the world from 1885 to introduce a live Father Christmas on-site at Christmas time. Beales grew steadily across the UK such that by the time of its entry into administration in January 2020, it consisted of 23 stores located as far apart as Hexham and Poole.
DHC was very pleased to be able to receive from the administrators KPMG the archive of Beales – collected from the Bournemouth store on its last day of trading on 20 March 2020. Whilst not particularly large, the collection contains a fascinating insight into the world of the fast-disappearing department store over a period of nearly 140 years.
Copious photographs point to a paternalistic regime where staff outings and community events played an important part in the business’s culture. It is clear how central Beales was to the commercial success of Bournemouth as well as being a major employer. Early catalogues sit alongside ledgers and minutes and a superb array of ephemera – as well as rule books clarifying the expected behaviour of employees. Part of the archive is digital and this will be preserved alongside the hard copy records.
In due course DHC will seek to properly sort and catalogue the Beales archive. We are also in conversation with staff at Bournemouth University about a project involving the collection.
The preservation of this wonderful archive reinforces the point that the records of businesses – particularly at this time of severe economic peril – are a fundamentally important part of our collective story and should be cherished as part of our cultural heritage.
Hello, i have in my possession a bronze tablet dated 1928, it reads
THIS TABLET IS PLACED HERE TO PERPETULATE THE MEMORY OF Mr AND Mrs J ELMES BEALE THE FOUNDERS OF THIS BUSINESS BY THE STAFF DECEMBER 1928. It measures 14″ x 10″, it is in a burnt ,warped condition, i would presume the reason being that it was on the wall in BEALES BOURNEMOUTH when it was bombed in 1943. It came to me from a house clearance, which is my trade. Would you know of any one who might be interested in purchasing this, i look forward to your reply, yours respectably, T Head
Hi Thomas, thanks for your message. I’m afraid that this sort of thing is not within our typical collection remit, and as there are no museums in Bournemouth specifically, we are unable to suggest anywhere suitable that might be interested in it. You might wish to talk to someone at the Heritage Zone in Bournemouth Library, in case they are aware of any organisations who would be interested in the tablet.