Beales Department Stores is a story that began in 1881. In that year, John Elmes Beale (1847-1928) opened his Fancy Fair and Oriental House in Old Christchurch Road in Bournemouth, Dorset selling products and novelties that reflected the growing enthusiasm for Chinese and Japanese design. Born near Weymouth along the South Coast, J E Beale became a significant figure in the Bournemouth community – even serving as Mayor for three years between 1902 and 1904.
Beales remained a family business throughout the 20th century. John was succeeded by his son Bennett Beale and then by his grandson Frank. After studying at Oxford and LSE he left England to train at Macy’s in New York.
Upon his return, he bought some of this New York flair back to the UK, creating a department store that was synonymous with style and customer service. There was never a warmer welcome than a Beales welcome.
An unfortunate casualty of World War II, the original store in Bournemouth was bombed during an air raid. Never ones to be defeated, the Beales family developed a flagship store on the same site. By the late 1960s, the business had extended its reach to a number of towns in the south of England. Frank Beale died in 2001.
Frank was succeeded in the 1980s by Nigel Beale, the great-grandson of the founder. Nigel remains honorary president of the company even today.
In 1995 the business floated on the London stock exchange but has now returned to private ownership under Tony Brown
