SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Hard to imagine today but Croydon once had shops that would see customers flying in from Europe and could provide tea for the Queen. DAVID MORGAN looks back to Grants Departmental Store and the halcyon days of the High Street
The Harrods of south London: Grants was regarded as the grandest of Croydon’s departmental stores
In the 1930s, shoppers with a taste for style and with a generous bank balance used to come to Croydon to shop in Grants department store. Or Grants Departmental Store, as the advertisements of the time would have it.
Grants of Croydon was such a draw that some of its customers came from France. The well-heeled clientele would fly into Croydon Aerodrome, take a car into the town centre and be dropped off at the door. After completing their transactions, they might have time for a meal in the restaurant or a spot of tea before being chauffeured back to the aerodrome for the return flight.
Buying suits in Grants’ luxurious showrooms was a regular thing for the discerning continental. Such was the allure of Croydon back then.
Two brothers, Richard and William Grant, established a haberdashery business on Croydon High Street in 1877. Living above the shop, they first expanded by building out into the back garden When the road was widened, they took the plunge and decided on a new four-storey store on the other side of the road.
High Street highlight: Grants was too posh for some shoppers
Designed by architects Metcalfe and Jones, the new store was opened in 1895. Vast sums of money were spent in creating a magnificent building. It quickly became known as “the Harrods of south London”.
In the last years of the 19th Century, it was said that several prominent members of the Royal Family were regular customers at Grants. Adverts around the turn of the century mentioned “opera capes” for sale.
Nikolaus Pevsner, the architectural historian, described the Grants store as having the best frontage of any commercial building of its date in south London. The building, or what remains of it, has had a Grade II-listing heritage protection through Historic England since 1994.
Grants employed personal shoppers who would serve those customers who wanted a special outfit for an occasion. These high-powered shop assistants were skilled in sizing up the customers and, with their knowledge of the stock, could bring dresses, handbags, hats and shoes to be tried on without the customer having to leave their chair.
Today, Turn Up and Be Pampered has morphed into Click and Collect!
When Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip made an official visit to Croydon in 1960, it was to Grants that they went for afternoon tea, accompanied by the mayor.
The store ceased trading in 1985 – the downturn in high street retailing and department stores has been going on for many years.
There are many Croydon residents with long-lasting memories of the store. Old Palace schoolgirls remember going there to purchase their brown uniforms, just as RAF personnel who were stationed at nearby Croydon Airport when it was turned into a fighter base, would go to Grants for their uniforms during World War II.
People who worked locally, in the offices that sprung up around the town centre from the 1960s, might go to Grants’ restaurant for lunch. For some young people, it was their first venture into the world of work with a Saturday job. There are others, however, who never went into the store, saying it was far too posh, or those who went “once in a blue moon for a treat”.
‘Hollywood and London’: Grants added glamour to 1930s shopping
The memory that many people have of the old store is the tubing into which were placed cannisters containing the bill of sale and money to pay for the goods. These cannisters would be rocketed along those tubes to the ledger department, where the sale was recorded. Any change would be counted out, put back into the receptacle and sent back to the department.
If a customer spent a large sum of money or if they were buying on Hire Purchase – a form of credit – then they would be escorted to the ledger office by the shop assistant, where the transaction would be completed discreetly.
In 1975, an article about Grants’ restaurant and catering facilities appeared in the spring edition of Heal’s newspaper. Heal’s was, and still is, a department store, trading today with its flagship premises in Tottenham Court Road and a large shop at Kingston. Their newspaper was described as being a guide to shop merchandise, personalities, promotions, home care and furnishing ideas. They weren’t afraid to talk about their rivals.
From that article half a century ago, we have an insight into how Grants looked after their staff.
Grants’ staff restaurant was up on the sixth floor, where the views were superb. On a clear day you could see half way to Epsom. There was a balcony from which you could enjoy pointing out and identifying various landmarks. When the weather was fine, staff were able sit out on the balcony during their breaks.
The staff restaurant was able to cater for 1,000 people each day. Grants still employed an awful lot of people in the 1970s. A realistic daily average was given as 800. This number didn’t include the senior management and the buyers, though, as they had their own facilities. All the food was cooked in the same kitchen, so the management, staff and customers all benefited from the excellent kitchen facilities. There were just a few “fried-on-the-spot meals” that were prepared behind the counter.
Innovation: the food hall in Grants offered the most modern facilities
The hostess for Heal’s visit was Mrs Florence Coleman, who had been appointed manageress of the staff restaurant in 1970. She proudly sat in the “large, light, well-windowed room” sharing coffee with her visitors and explaining how things were run.
Mrs Coleman was keen to explain that the dishes were varied as much as possible.
Two staples were always on the menu: fish and chips and sausage and chips. These were priced at 11p and 10p respectively. The more expensive alternative on the day of the visit cost 15p. This consisted of creamed turkey and two veg. The choice of vegetables offered was either peas, rice or potatoes and these could be either creamed or mashed.
Salads were made to order, based on sardines, ham, liver sausage or egg.
There was a choice of sweet course which cost 3½p. For a treat, which cost extra, you could have lemon meringue pie.
Not everyone wanted to have a full lunchtime meal, Coleman told the people from Heal’s. “Soup and rolls can make a good midday meal because the soup is always hot,” she said.
Pies, rolls, buns, cakes and sandwiches could be purchased for between 2p and 4p.
To wash down your lunch you could get a tea for a penny or a coffee for tuppence.
The staff restaurant was open each day from 9.30am until 5pm. Morning coffee was supposed to be finished by 10.30, but Coleman explained that if a member of staff was serving a customer and wasn’t able to get to the restaurant in time, then the rules weren’t rigidly applied. “Attention to duty with a customer must never result in the loss of their much needed coffee,” Coleman said.
The main lunchtime was between noon and 2.30pm. Queues were kept under control by the staggering of lunch hours, with the need to keep all the departments properly staffed.
Grants knew that Croydon was very much an area of lunchtime shopping, so they planned to keep things running smoothly both on the shop floor as well as the staff restaurant. The spaciousness of the restaurant also helped to create an ambiance where staff didn’t feel it was too hectic, trying to get something to eat before returning to their duties.
Coleman was in charge of eight or nine staff who were needed to keep the restaurant running smoothly. She didn’t have a large turnover of staff. Her reason for this was because she, herself, was prepared to do anything which needed doing, including washing up, table wiping or cooking.
Repurposed: Grants as we know it today, with the vast multiplex cinema looming over the Victorian façade
One of Coleman’s bugbears was how much time was needed to train people to clear up after they had eaten. Grants’ staff were expected to clear their tables and put their trays back on the collection racks. Coleman was optimistic that she had cracked the problem and that the staff had started to do it automatically.
The most difficult problem was to get the staff to bring back their cups after they had gone outside to have a tea or coffee on the balcony.
Grants also provided a “small dart board” in the restaurant for staff amusement, especially if it was raining. Coleman hoped that other amenities might be added in the future, as there was certainly enough space.
By the late 1970s, however, it was clear that the business was in decline. The visits from the French were by then distant memories, with black and white photographs hanging on the walls to remind folk of the store’s heyday.
Grants did their best to revitalise the store in different ways. In 1948, after the war, they opened a food hall offering delicious takeaway dishes such as chicken salad, prawn salad and lobster. They also opened a cocktail counter where you could buy everything you needed for your party.
The refrigeration equipment which they installed helped them to make a bold claim. It “ensures a degree of hygienic perfection that is as modern as tomorrow”.
After the store’s closure, the building stood empty for almost 15 years, as new owners and uses were sought for it while protecting that remarkable façade. Work was done to convert it into the multiplex cinema and bar and restaurant complex we know today, with the façade restored, including repair of the Victorian stained glass windows, the stonework, the cornices, the window trims and turret and flagpole.
As the powers-that-be wrestle with the problems that beset Croydon town centre today, where are the 21st Century Grant brothers?
Start small, grow big? Visionaries needed. Urgent.
David Morgan, pictured, is a former Croydon headteacher, now the volunteer education officer at Croydon Minster, who offers tours or illustrated talks on the history around the Minster for local community groups
If you would like a group tour of Croydon Minster or want to book a school visit, then ring the Minster Office on 020 688 8104 or go to the website on www.croydonminster.org and use the contact page
Some previous articles by David Morgan:
- Archbishop Lanfranc and the Norman Conquest of Croydon
- Christmas Eve marks cententary of the Croydon air disaster
- Broderick’s Minster visit revives memories of master musician
- The church fire that consumed a thousand years of history
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
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As a child my grandparents regularly took me to afternoon tea at Grants. One was expected to dress in best clothes and ladies always wore hats. I recall the cake trolley, wheeled to the table by a waitress. The waitress was dressed in black with a small decorative apron. I think she wore a white cap but I can’t be 100% sure. I do remember the huge fresh cream meringues, which were place on my plate with shiny silver cake tongs. Happy memories indeed.
It is a completely different world now. I look at the remains of the Grants facade with deep sadness.
I remember tea at Grants too. My mother took me there. This was after the war, in the late 1940s There used to be a pianist who played while we ate. (Unless that was at Allders. Anyone remember?)
A family friend grew up in Croydon after the war and remembers Grants well. How sad that we have not kept the building – and the business.
My mother worked in Grants in the 1960s. She was a “float” so worked in whichever department had need of more staff at the time. Often she was assigned to Proberts Men’s Wear which seemed to be linked to Grants but was separate from the rest of the store.
My memories from the time are the comprehensive Grants staff magazine which my mother always used to bring home. Also the public restaurant in the store, which served a very good plum tart and custard.
On leaving school at the age of 15 in 1963 I was successful in being awarded a much coveted five-year indentureship at ‘Grants of Croydon’, working six-month stints in various departments such as lighting (Miss Sage & Mrs Slaughter), bedding (Miss ? who lived Addington way, and a Hungarian chap by the name of Mr Hubay).
I ended up working in Grants menswear department (a separate shop called Proberts, was located in the next adjacent building) where a fellow ‘junior’ and I would specialise in electrocuting errant customers by ‘inadvertently’ dragging our feet over the thick wool carpets to impart our accumulated static charge by deftly touching Sir or Madam’s hand. The resulting shock, which we both shared (!), would see them jump out of their skins. My more senior assistants were a lovely man who I just knew as Mr Ireland, and another more reserved chap be the name of Mr Messent.
The head of staff during my time 1964 – 1969 ish was a very nice, but slightly fierce lady (in a nice, and at my young age, slightly alluring way…), by the name of Mrs Vonderdell.
Throughout my time as a 15-21 year old I, along with all male front of house staff’ had to wear dark freshly pressed suits and stiff detachable collars. I was also required to spend every Tuesday evening 7-10 pm attending the College for the Distributive Trades in Leicester Square, getting the train after leaving Grsnts at 5.30 pm to Charing Cross. As condition of an indentureship was passing the HNC in various subjects. My only day off was Sunday with a half day on Wednesday.
By the age of 20 ish I yearned for something more exciting and so joined the Metropolitan Police, eventually retiring after a most wonderful action-packed career in both the Met and Dorset Police as a Superintendent in 1996.
Do please contact me if you too worked at Grants.
I remember Mrs Vonderdell so well! She was our next door neighbour but two and certainly had an aura about her which left me in awe as a child. I think she had a daughter with whom I was allowed to play with , but only on special occasions. Many thanks for your story and reminiscent memories of Grants, visited by my Mum every Saturday as a special treat.
Thank you Hazel – your memory much appreciated!
When I was 14 shopping with my Mother my treat was to go to the Restaurant at the top of Grants to have these large meringues filled with cream…..delicious. Would have been around 1964. Happy memory.
What a great, great story. And so many terrific memories – keep ’em coming. Those stories illustrate how Croydon’s society has changed. Were we really so much better off in those days? Was there no litter, no anti-social behaviour? I am sure, though, that there were no machetes on the streets
Many thanks to David Morgan for this absolutley fascinating articIe and to those describing their memories of this store. I arrived in 1986 a year late but have since admired the facade and often wondered about its history.
Grants started to do downhill in the mid 1970’s when Michael Drewe retired as Managing Director. No replacement was appointed, instead Alec Grant assumed the position as well as retaining his position as Chairman. Also about the same time a new board member was appointed, James Grant, son of Alec.
In 1981 James died in America, there was now no male heir bearing the Grant name and it would appear that was the moment the decision was made to sell up. Early 1982 the store was sold.
I worked at Grants until mid 1982 and my comments above came from 1st hand experience and those of others .