Dingles (department store)
E Dingle & Co was a department store chain with its flagship store in Plymouth. It is now part of House of Fraser group.
Early history
Edward Dingle opened a drapery at 30 Bedford Street, Plymouth in 1880. By the next year the business had expanded and had over 27 employees.[1] One of his staff, Tom Baker, became his brother-in-law when he married Edward's sister, and he was duly made a partner in the business.
By 1900, the store had expanded to include 29-31 Bedford Street and 6 Cornwall Street which was connected to the Bedford Road properties. The business then slowly grew and by 1926 it had taken up 28-31 Bedford Road and 4-6 Cornwall Street.[2]
1935 onwards
In, E Dingle & Co was registered as a private limited company, and purchased its neighbour W J Vickery & Co Ltd, a gents outfitters, who were based at 26-27 Bedford Street. The two Vickery brothers, Stanley & Ralph joined the board of Dingles. Before the breakout of the Second World War, Dingles had expanded further by purchasing the lease of 32 Bedford Street, and were operating eighty departments with other 500 people.[2] The board had planned to rebuild the store but this was curtailed by the start of the war.
On 21 March 1941, German bombs fell on the nearby Yeos department store, and the resulting fire spread and burnt the Dingle store to the ground. This however did not stop the business and the company rented empty stores across Plymouth to continue business.[2]
After the war, the business was given a site close to their old premises, and to assist with reconstruction, the company was restructured in 1948. In 1949 work commenced on building the new store, and was opened in September 1951. The new store had four floors and 35,00 square feet of retail space.[2]
The business was floated as a public company in 1954, and in the 1960s started an expansion plan with the purchasing of independent stores across the south west:
- Cox & Horder (Falmouth, Cornwall) 1961
- Hawke & Thomas (Newquay) 1961
- Criddle & Smith (Truro)
- John Polglaze (Penzance)
- B Thomas (Helston)
- Henry Warren & Son (Newton Abbot)
- William Badcock & Son (Newton Abbot)
The expansion programme had been made possible by profits growing every year (bar 1951).[2]
In 1970, E Dingle & Co bought a small chain of department stores called Jolly & Son, who had branches in Bath, Somerset, Deal, Kent, Margate and Bristol.[2]
In 1971, House of Fraser made moves to take over the business. As part of the discussions with the chairman, Winston Brimacombe, House of Fraser promised that the company would retain its identity.[2] Under House of Fraser, the Plymouth store added a new level in 1975 and became a new division within House of Fraser – Dingles. Stores in the West Country from the JJ Allen chain were transferred into the new Dingles group[2] as well as D H Evans in London and the two Devon department stores of J F Rockhey which had been part of the Harrods acquisition in 1959. The welsh stores of Howells and David Evans were brought under Dingles management and as House of Fraser extended it's reach into southern England during the 1970s further stores were added to the Dingles division from the acquisitions of Hide & Co. and Army & Navy Stores.
In December 1988, a fire devastated the Plymouth store destroying the upper half of the building. The floors were replaced at an estimated cost of £13,200,000.[2] Also in 1988 the Dingles group company name was changed from E J Dingles to House of Fraser (Twelve) Ltd, although the store continued to operate under the Dingles brand.
Since 2006 the Dingles brand has not been used, instead the store has been branded House of Fraser.
The former Dingle branches no longer open are: Bridgwater; Bristol; Dorchester; Falmouth; Helston; Newquay; Newton Abbot; Penzance; Salisbury; Torquay; Trowbridge; Truro; Wells; Yeovil.