Spooners

Many people will remember the Spooners store on Royal Parade. The older photo shows Spooners as it was before it was totally destroyed by enemy bombing in 1941. Spooners was established in 1857. Spooners was founded by Joseph James Spooner and their original ornate building stretched from Bedford Street around the corner to Old Town Street. Spooners advertised themselves as house furnishers, drapers, milliners and cabinet makers. Before the war, Spooner's Corner, as it was known then, was a very popular meeting place. Like many other shops in the town, they had their own orchestra playing in their restaurant. The shop featured its own fashion department taking up a whole floor and it even had its own theatre to perform fashion parades. In 1902, Spooners was nearly totally destroyed by a fire when a shop assistant accidently set fire to a display commemorating the coronation of King Edward VII.

  

After the war, both Spooner's and Yeo's moved to adjacent buildings on Royal Parade. The new store was officially opened by Lady Astor on the 10th May, 1956 although it had been trading since October 1954. Both Yeo's and Spooner's were later taken over by Debenham's and the buildings still look much the same today as they did over 50 years ago.