Lewis's in Birmingham

[Phil]

I'm posting this photo here because the other day on the Nechells thread it came up, "did traffic ever use the Minories". planetmalc replied that "Yes it did, even buses" I posted a photo of some cars doing just that, and here is a photo of a bus passing through.

[planetmalc]

Asked Mum about the X ray machine in the shoe dept, she said yes but they were in the Children's dept. Sue

 
Thanks for that, Sue.    A friend of mine who worked there in the 60's reckoned that Lewis's shoe department was  -  or contained  -  an in-store shop for one of the big shoe retailers (Clark's maybe?).

[Annie999]

Hi,


I know this is an old post but I thought I'd put my two penneth in anyway. For me Lewis's was a family business since my Dad Aubrey Walton who was the bakery storeman on the 6th floor from late 50's to the stores closure in the 80's and my mom Betty Walton who was the supervisor of the linen room in the sub basement with Andre (don't remember her last name but she was french) from 1970's again to when the store closed. In the '70's both me and my sister worked there as Christmas staff - My sister in the four seasons restaurant on the 6th floor as a waitress and me on the toy dept on the 5th floor.


It was like a second home to us. Dad knew Kenny Cox & Stuart (don't know his last name) who worked in the kitchens for the restaurant as dad worked in the Card Room on 6th floor which was situated next to the silver service restaurant of a Saturday. Both me and my sister got our christmas jobs via Mr Ridge who was over what we now call HR dept as dad had done several favours for Mr Ridge.


I don't know who would remember him but he was a large man who had been in the army and so had learned to bark at people rather than talk to them but he was someone everyone liked. He had had two of his fingers lost during WW2 and could drink like a fish. Dad once tried to keep up with him and his whisky drinking and ended up in the Welfare dept with alcohol poisoning.


I remember the Christmas Parties that Lewis's used to do at the Tower Ballroom with evening dresses, as kids me and my sister used to go to see Father Christmas in the '60's and it wasn't till I got older that I realised that in fact various Commissionaires who used to do the security at the old square door entrance used to dress up as Father Christmas each year.


The names I also remember are Johnny Price the porter, Kathy in the Bakery who was the senior cake decorator who along with the other girls used to give us cakes, eclairs and the like when we visited dad in the bakery. As a toddler dad actually weighed me in the large scales he used for the various recipes for cakes, bread ect.

[Phil]

Hi Annie


Welcome to the forum, you have some interesting memories of Lewis's, I'm sure we have posters who would like to hear more, but please don't feel restricted to Lewis's.


You can comment on any topic you like, just find the appropriate thread or if there isn't one on the topic you want to chat about just start a new thread. The easiest way to see if there is an open topic on your choice of chat is to use the search box at the top right of the page.

[Peg Monkey]

I was devastated when Lewis's closed - it was such an important part of every brummie's life - young and old, I remember vividly the closure being reported on the local news - they interviewed and employee who explained there was no warning, he left the store one eveining as normal and when he tried to get in the next day it was locked-down never to re-open.
As an infant a trip to the toy department was a trip to paradise - and if the miniature rooftop roadway was in operation with its Austin pedal cars, well, life couldn't get any better.
Peg.

[Peg Monkey]

Lewis's Poster - 1937
Peg.

[JudithM]

Lewis's Poster - 1937
Peg.

I love that poster!

I've said before on another thread that I always got lost in Lewis's.  I could never find my way out of the same entrance I went in by   

At least the building still stands when so many others have gone.

[Phil]

I believe this escalator must have been a first in Birmingham and was most likely installed in 1932-33 when Lewis's having purchased the whole corner block of Corporation Street, Bull Street and Old Square including Newbury's department store & Berlin House. They then set about turning it into the largest department store in the city. I know that visiting the store as a child half the excitement of visiting the toy department on the fifth floor was riding the "moving stairs" up the five floors.

[Peg Monkey]

Whilst Lewis's Roof-top Austin Pedalcars were the top of my list of reasons to visit the store I remember another occasion clearly even though I was only about 5 (that would be 1954: 64 years ago): One Saturday I was accompanying my mum on a shopping trip to the city (a bus-ride from our house in Heaton St, Hockley) and making our way home through Lewis's Food Hall (I can still smell the smoked bacon) we approached a sales girl who was giving away free samples of a famous brand of soup (can't tell you the name for fear of getting (another) yellow card from the mods, for forum rule violation, but it began with H) anyway, she was giving tiny cups of tomato soup away, now giving us a sample was preaching to the converted but the store was due to close in the next 10-15mins so she was only too happy for us to drink all the soup we could manage, each cup only held about a couple of tablespoons but we had so many we must have had a couple of bowls-full.
Ah! Happy days!
Peg.
P.S Could never understand how a store like Lewis's could disappear over-night.

[Edmund Fifield]

Peg,from what I was told it was the rents that were upt by the owners ,the franchisers refused to pay and Lewis's  gradually folded.It was known as GREED.

[Phil]

Perhaps you are among these drivers Peg?