Browns of Chester: Sad demise of 'the Harrods of the North'

Browns of Chester, which opened 241 years ago, used stationery which proudly proclaimed it was "established in the reign of George III".

The department store, founded by Susannah Brown in 1780, has seen nine monarchs, 43 prime ministers and eight global pandemics and, says a local historian, was once regarded as "the Harrods of the North".

So strong was its identity that when it joined the Debenhams empire in the 1970s it was the only branch in their burgeoning portfolio allowed to keep its original name.

But now, like the rest of the retailer's 52 stores, it has closed.

The year 1780 must have been the perfect time for Susannah Brown to open a department store in Chester.

The city was becoming an affluent haven for the upper classes fleeing the industrial sprawls that were developing in Liverpool and Manchester.

A decade of success later, Ms Brown moved it to the elegant Eastgate Street, with its unique two-tiered shopping galleries, and there her store traded continuously until its closure on Wednesday.

Stephen Langtree, from Chester Civic Trust, said while Browns, which had about 600 staff in the 1960s, used to have a national reputation as "the Harrods of the North", it actually predates the Knightsbridge store, as well as retail luminaries Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, and was just two years younger than the original Debenhams store in London.

The store, right in the heart of Chester's city centre, is a labyrinthine maze of interconnected buildings.

In the middle is a wooden staircase under a stained glass window, chandeliers hang among the cosmetics and evening wear and the coffee shop is in a crypt.

Maria Barnard worked at Browns as a senior sales adviser for 19 years.

Over the last few months, as the shop has been taken over by gaudy bright "Everything Must Go" signs and the shelves have been stripped bare, she has been taking behind-the-scenes videos to catalogue the building ahead of its uncertain future.

They have revealed the ornate glass domed ceilings which are hidden above suspended plasterboard tiles, doors which cannot be opened and a spiral staircase up to a tower high above street level.

She said she made the films because Browns was "important, not only to me, but to Chester as well".

"It's a beautiful store that's been here for so many hundreds of years - why not archive it so people can actually get to see it afterwards when the doors are closed?"

Much of the complex has Grade II listed building status, but Cheshire West and Chester Council believes it may have to be sub-divided into smaller units to have a viable future.

The authority said it was "working closely" with owners British Land "to look at the opportunities for the site".

Councillor Richard Beacham said he has happy memories of "sitting waiting for my mum to buy clothes as a kid" at the shop and wanted to see it continue to serve Chester.

"It's a big building with lots of interesting and unique features which could be turned back to its original footprint so the opportunities are endless and we're quite excited about it," he added.

Mr Langtree said the city was "still a bit stunned by this closure because two years ago, this was unthinkable".

He would like to see the building become "a boutique, bespoke shopping and spa experience", with those original and hidden features captured in Ms Barnard's videos restored.

But whatever happens to it, the future will be tinged with a sadness among many.

On Wednesday, as it was preparing to close, members of staff came out on to Eastgate Street to applaud their former place of work.

Ms Barnard, and some of her Browns colleagues, have found new jobs, but her response to the closure summed up what many of the city's residents thought about the demise of Browns.

"It's the end of an era for us," she said.

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