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Barrows Stores

R

ringoosmeg

New Member
Hi all,

Im hoping out there there are a few people remember this shop, Im doing a bit for my mother who worked at Barrows in the 50s and 60s.

Im trying to find anyone that worked with her or knew her her or had any recorlection of the shop.

Her name was Evelyn Leake, but married one of the drivers from Barrows garage, Domonic Grego.

It would be great too if anyone has any photos of the store, shes in her 70s now but often talks about her days there with affection.

My father, left the stores to work for Barrows Heating (Aga agent) and continued working for them until he passed away.

Thanks for any help you all may be able to give.

Regards.
 
My treat when young was to to be take to Barrows[es] and have a Rum Baba with my cup of tea. It is probably down to memory but I never again enjoyed a Rum Baba like the ones they did there. Not as good when they moved it in my opinion.
 
I worked on the Perry Barr Shopping centre ,not the one that's there now, but the one built around 1963/4 and there was a Barrows shop there when it opened.
 
My grandad was Alec Leake, but not that one, his real name was John Leake, but every one called him Alec, dont ask I dont know why...

They lived in Durham Road, Sparkhill,

Cheers

R
 
In the Birmingham Mail on Saturday 10th January 2009, there is a photo of Barrows in Bull Street taken in 1955. opposite McConville's a dress shop which I often frequented. Must confess my only memory of Barrows is the one which was in Corporation Street.
 
hi and welcome ringoosmeg.
i,m sure my sister sheila greaves worked at barrows stores,
does the name ring a bell?
regards dereklcg
 
Hi there,
I started work at Barrows straight from school in 1950 as a stores trainee and left in 1960 as assistant office manager.

At my age I am not very good at names but might remember your mom from the department she worked in.

See if she remembers me, name of Derek

Thanks
 
Hi All,
There are several bits and pieces that contributors to this post have picked up about Barrows but I think I can bring some of them together having worked there from 1950 to 1960 and was Assistant Office Manager when I left.

Barrows who were cousins to the Cadburys took over the business in 1824 and when Corporation street came in to being Barrows took the second site along from Bull Street, Dunnes Menswear had the first site, the corner position.

Well before I joined in 1950, the Bull Street site had become the back entrance for the Corporation Street Store, used by staff and for the delivery of goods. The sign above the entrance had not been removed as seen in the photo.

Oppsite this on the left of Bull Street was Dalton Street. McFisheries were on the corner and next entrance down was Barrow warehouse and Garage for the delivery vans. Orders were assembled on trolleys just as Tesco do now and delivered all over Birmingham.

The bakery was also here were those Rum ba ba and my favourite the pineapple cream were produced. the Sales and accounts office was here to.



Sorry to rave on and only hope some one out there finds it interesting.
There is lots more, how they acquired other shops and how this very High Class store finally came to terms with self service but, nuff said for now.
 
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My late father, John Barrow (he died in 1977), was MD of Barrows when it was sold, in 1966, to Fitch Lovell, then a larger supermarket chain. At the time there were branches in Solihull, Kenilworth and at Fiveways. We moved away from the West Midlands then, really to get away from the ghosts of the stores. I think one of the main reasons for the sale was the imminent expiry of the lease on the Corporation St premises. The abolition of resale price maintenance made many such shops uncompetitive. We still have a few memorabilia at home, including the telephone-shopping catalogue. I remember the delivery-vans being peacock blue, with the Barrow's logo in black.
 
Hi ejofthweb,
I knew your father very well. When I joined the company in 1950 as a trainee stores assistant your grandfather, Richard was MD. The first time I saw the top man was in 1951 when the company hired a complete train to take all the employees on a Sunday outing to London for the Festival of Britain.
Your grandfather came through the train speaking to everyone as he passed. For me a junior employee I felt proud to have actually spoken to the MD.
As the years passed I became Assistant Office Manager of the invoice and accounts office the two combined had a staff of 30+ because being the high class stores that it was, Barrows customers were mostly account customers, no paying the driver at the door for these people.
In the Mid 1950s the retail trade was going mad over the idea of self service. Your father and I went to London to look at some of the shops which were using this form of selling. I remember having coffee at Fortnum and Mason and the counter assistants wore white gloves. The Cash registers on the counter did not have Bells in order not to draw attention to customers who were paying by cash for this could have caused some embarrassment.
Your father took me to lunch at a Chinese restaurant, it was the first time that it I had eaten Foreign Food and I remember it well, I had Egg Fu Yong which almost put me off for the rest of my life.
On our return we both agreed that self-service was the way forward but for Barrows it became:
Self-Selection.
 
There was a company named C.C.Barrows and they had shops in Auchinleck Square and in the Harbourne High Street. Barrows Stores aquired their business in the late 50's but I am not sure whether they ever change the name above the shops.
 
I too worked at Barrows. I came straight from school in 1956, and worked in the Greengrocery Dept, which was on the street level. We had to wear celluloyd collars and aprons. We used to have fun though, because the manager was very strict, so to break up the authoritarian way he treated us, we would climb the racking from the back of the display, and poke our heads through the display. Not funny really, but if you were serving a really posh woman from Roman Road in Streetly, and you happened to glance up and see your mates head...trying to keep a serious look was almost impossible. I miss those days though. God Bless Brum back then.
 
Thanks for posting that very amusing story Gerry. I don't think there was another store like Barrow's in the Birmingham City Centre. I have mentioned before that on a window shopping tour when in town late at night years ago I would notice very specially laid out fruit items in the window. One night in particular I saw a beautifully laid out basket with a large bunch of black grapes in it. The grapes were 12 shillings and six pence per lb! Barrow's also supplied items to the convenience kiosks at New Street Station for passengers to take along on their train trips.
 
I remember Barrows but to me it was a very posh shop, I do remember looking in the windows when Nan or Dad took me to town we would walk right down Corperation st.
paul
 
Hi All.

I'm a Walsallian by birth living out in Herefordshire. Recently, I came across this wonderful abandoned cottage in a village near Leominster and in one of the old dilapidated barns, tucked behind some rubble and a leaning old wardrobe, I found this:



SANY0906.jpg

SANY0908.jpg

SANY0907.jpg


I did a little searching about for info, which led me to this site. Only just signed up so just saw there is a similar picture of an identical (slightly less rusted) sign already in this thread, but I hope the pictures are welcome and I wonder if anybody can work out just how or why this sign ended up in a farm workers cottage in Risbury, deepest, darkest Herefordshire!?

I suppose there is a link with the Marlbrook Cadburys plant not far away, but it's still a mystery to me.
 
I remember Barrows from the railway station, not sure if it was snow hill or new street or it could have been both,
paul
 
Barrows Store in town.......................expensive and seemingly exclusive. I read somewhere recently on this site that the 1851 census showed Richard Barrow, Tea Dealer at 93 Bull Street, probably the same family. Do you suppose Barrows Lane in Sheldon was named after the Barrow family? Also, can anyone name the shops in Bull Street in the 1950's?
 
morning david thanks for reposting that pic as i think it was one that i did not save...

lyn
 
Richard Cadbury Barrow was a member of the Cadbury family who had traded at 92-93 Bull Street since 1794. Richard took over the shop at 93, Bull Street in 1949 when his uncles pulled out of retailing to concentrate on chocolate making.

There's more information on my website https://www.bhamb14.co.uk/index_files/CADBURY.htm

Colin
 
Re Bull St , Boots the Chemists had a shop there in 1953,I went for an interview there for a pharmacy apprenticeship in that year subsequently went to their Sparkhill branch to work.
 
Barrows Lane, which covers Sheldon and Yardley was named after the landlord and landlady of a pub which once stood on Barrows Lane, I forget the name of the pub. The same Barrows were also landlord and landlady of the Talbot pub in Church Road, near to Yardley village. After being a pub, it was converted to a tea room and is now a house.
 
So what was MOAT lane named after?. I was told that at one time a castle stood there and there was a moat around it? Any other ideas? Lived on Moat lane all my life in Brum 24yrs, Often wondered where they got all the names from, Vera Rd Gilberstone Cres? John Crump (OldandBent?) Parker, Co USA
 
oldbrit said:
So what was MOAT lane named after?. I was told that at one time a castle stood there and there was a moat around it? Any other ideas? Lived on Moat lane all my life in Brum 24yrs, Often wondered where they got all the names from, Vera Rd Gilberstone Cres? John Crump (OldandBent?) Parker, Co USA
Click to expand...

Gilbertstone, like the area of Yardley which is also so-called was named after the legend of a giant, who picked up a large rock with one hand. The giant was called Gilbert, and his stone is to be found in the gardens of Blakesley Hall. There were at least 11 moated manor houses in Yardley, including the one in Moat Lane.
 
Very Interesting! Thanks for the info, Where can I get more info on the 11 moated manor houses? About what time would all this have been in? John Crump Parker, Co USA
 
Its been a while since I posted on here but I've just acquired some items from Barrow's Store - a shop I recall in their 'new' 1960s premises on Corporation St that sadly didn't last long. Founded as Barrow's in 1849, when John Cadbury of chocolate fame handed over the shop he'd started in Bull St in 1824 to his nephew Richard Cadbury Barrow. Mayor of Birmingham in 1889, he died in 1894 and the shop became a limited company. In one of the items I have acquired it notes - "Merger into Fitch Lovell Group Nov 5 1965. Taken over completely by Keymarkets Nov 6 1966. 'Traveller' service finished April 30 1965. Buyers office 'disintegrated' Nov 5 1965. KJP and JOW finished Nov 4 1966. Alas! Alack!" The Warehouses were, I think, in Dalton St. Sad they went - I recall the home deliveries in wicker baskets, their lovely tea and the cafe - I was brought round from a minor operation on my hand in about 1965 (at the General) by being taken for toasted teacakes in Barrow's by my mum!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/36844288@N00/sets/72157641232091985/with/12643342224/

I'll post some more items on Flickr soon.
 
The 150 year Barrow's Store Record looks interesting. On the advert (middle photo) it shows, what I think is, a Dutch girl. Well the hat looks Dutch. Wondered what the connection might be, if there is one. Thanks Mikeya. Be very interested to see more. Viv.
 
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