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Barrows Stores

Yes, there are several queries with that sign. Any company that offered "Free deliveries to all parts" would be asking for trouble these days (or overcharging greatly) but was expected in the pre-personal vehicle days.

I can't find too much on the sickly-sounding brand apart from that it must be Indian Tea, or more likely Ceylon (Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka or just இலங்கை). I think that it's advertising jingle was "Chundah's Song - A Hindoostanee Melody" https://books.google.com/books?id=zlMJAAAAQAAJ&vq=chundah&pg=PA336#v=onepage&q=chundah&f=false "Boy! Let yon ruby liquid flow........Be gay and scown the frowns of age"
 
There is a little more info at the great madeinbirmingham site https://madeinbirmingham.org/barrows.htm
* Tolkien often had a tipple there (is there nothing that man didn't do in Birmingham)
* Barrow's delivered to all the big houses around - so was obviously the Waitrose of its day and needed the fleet of delivery carts shown in pic on post-1 (other posh supermarkets do exist....)
* The Bull St site was the location for the first Cadbury shop
 
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
 
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.
 
Hi Viv: I remember Barrow's Store very well. I remember their window displays and also they had items from their store
on sale in a small kiosk at New Street Station. I believe it was on the platform where the London trains left from. This would be around 1957.
I like this connection to the store and it might answer who the artist was that did drawings for Barrow's letterhead, etc.
The reference to the artist Sarah Nechamkin is mentioned in a poster's comment on the Barrow's page.https://theironroom.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/barrows-stores-christmas-list/

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Sa...874&pagename=BCC/Common/Wrapper/InlineWrapper
 
I remember going into the cafe at Barrows in Corporation Street now and then. It was a lovely store. I also remember there was a fad for 'unusual' food items in the early 60s and you could buy weird things on one of their counters - I had some chocolate covered red ants!!!! Don't ask me why!
 
I was working at Barrows store in the late 1940's, I was an electricians mate doing contract work, remember seeing the girls hand decorating the cakes, they gave me one that was a bit miss shaped, tasted lovely.
 
jennyann said:
Hi Viv: .............
The reference to the artist Sarah Nechamkin is mentioned in a poster's comment on the Barrow's page.https://theironroom.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/barrows-stores-christmas-list/

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Sa...874&pagename=BCC/Common/Wrapper/InlineWrapper
Click to expand...


Thanks Jennyann, very helpful. Barrows seem to have treated their staff very well and maybe the Dutch girl in the ad was an acknowledgement of the artist then. That's lovely if it was. Viv.
 
Vivienne14 said:
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.
Click to expand...

The Dutch Girl is interesting - this sort of design is often connected with Holland and cocoa and I wonder if it is a link back to Barrow's origins and connections with Cadbury's and John Cadbury's shop that opened in Bull St in 1824 and which was passed over to Richard Cadbury Barrow in 1849. The first publication I have with the Dutch Girl on is 1914 when it was noted as a 'Registered Trade Mark". It appears on the 1947 Staff Excursion leaflet but has been replaced by the Reynolds Stone trademark device by the Staff Visit of 1951 leaflet so you can assume they replaced it c1950.
 
Thanks Mikeye. How interesting. I think it's always worth looking into these things and although we might not always be 100% certain as to their origins it's well worth exploring. We find out so much more that way. The Cadbury link is interesting, and Barrows obviously carried on the same ethos with their staff. We could do with more of these companies these days. Viv.
 
From today's Sunday Mercury :-

J.R.R Tolkien used to meet Chris Wiseman, Geoffrey Bache Smith and Rob Gilson as schoolboys at the cafe in Barrows Store, they called themselves the Tea Club Barrovian Society, they would meet to discuss their latest work,all vowed to become literary greats. They all went off to war and Bache Smith and Gilson were both killed, Tolkien was badly shaken and deeply shocked by what he saw and was inspired to base the battle scenes in his book Lord of the Rings on his experiences

Colin


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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