Founded 19.4.1938 - Beatties of London(Wikipedia)


Fond memories of trips out to Southgate, and visits to their shops at Holborn Kingsway prior to them blossoming into a chain of 60 store an more general toys which went bust in 2001.

Confirmed by Wikipedia

In Bristol, we used to have the excellent Georges bookshops, on Park Street - there were three of them, on the left hand side walking up.

One of them was where I met Harold Wilson, who was there to sign copies of his book, 'The Governance of Britain'. I didn't buy one, I just offered him a sheet of paper - which he autographed: I remember saying to him, "Thank you, sir". I was with a group of fellow sixth-formers, who had all sneaked out of school simply to attend that book signing.

George's (note the placement of the apostrophe - we'll come back to that) was just one shop - 89 Park St - when I was a boy. Spent many happy hours there, exploring all four floors and multiple levels, and buying many a book. I think they over-expanded when they moved into 87 and 85, and then sadly rebranded as Blackwell's - the Oxford bookseller who had actually owned the business since the 1920's.

Why was the apostrophe where it was? Because it was William George's Sons Ltd. William, incidentally, started selling books in his uncle's bookshop at 26 Clare Street - more or less opposite Stanford's. He moved the business to Park St in either 1851 or 1871 (depending on who you believe). Perhaps he thought Clare St was a silly place for a bookshop?

That sounds very much like what happened to Reading's main independent bookseller, William Smith (no relation!) that used to be in London Street. It suffered a major fire in the early 1970s, after which there was a big sale of fire-damaged stock. I acquired an almost undamaged 7th edition One Inch (1/63,630) unfolded OS^▸ (Ordnance Survey) sheet 178 (Dorchester) which in due course (about 10 years later) I framed and hung on my office wall. Somewhere in the house there's a slightly smoke-damaged copy of Monkhouse's Principles of Physical Geography I acquired at the same time.

The shop moved to (if I recall correctly) King's Road, and in due course was acquired by, and rebranded as, Blackwells too. It closed in the era when Waterstones effectively took control of the serious book market in the 2000s, but they kept a store at the University.

The old London Street store had a well-regarded second-hand department, but I think almost all its stock perished in the fire. The premises were the site of an early Quaker meeting dating back to the end of the 17th century.

Unlike clothes, and particularly shoes, where I really do want to try things on for fit and feel, maps are relatively safe to buy online for delivery so I'm not surprised physical shops are struggling.  Having said that, I would still prefer to look at and compare foreign maps where they are an unknown quantity, as opposed to the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) where I'm familiar with what OS^▸ (Ordnance Survey) maps at every scale and the various town/city street map publishers' products look like.  Not enough of us to keep it economic though!

On a related note, I recently decided to update my 9 sheet A-Z maps of London (better than the classic A-Z book for some purposes) only to discover that they are no longer produced.  How long will the book survive?

It's rather saddening to hear of the Bristol Stanford's closure.  I bought a map there a little before Christmas and there was no indication of it closing then. 
The news sparked a memory of when, a few years ago,  I was downstairs trying to pay for a map. Map and payment card in hand, I stood in front of the chap behind the till who was on a call casually talking to a friend or colleague.  Five minutes later and with me about to put the map down and leave, he finally finished the call and decided to take payment. 
The subject of the overheard phone call?  A meeting earlier that day to stress the urgency of boosting sales.

I also recall a visit to George's during the first term of my History A Level to order a recommended text book which I was told would be ordered in for me as there were none in stock at the time. I left my name and address to be contacted when it had arrived for me.  Fast forward two years, A level completed, end of year 6th form bun fight done and dusted and in the post comes a letter from George's informing me that my book had arrived.
I still passed my History A Level.

I have redacted their surname, out of respect for their privacy: they are a well-known family in Nailsea.