THE opening of the then new Tyrrell and Green premises on May 7, 1956, at Above Bar in Southampton, reflected a story of achievement and expansion that began, modestly enough, with the founding of a small drapery shop on exactly the same site in 1897.
From 1934 Tyrrell and Green was doing a high-class trade in Southampton and it was a thriving, enterprising and individualistic shop that was wrecked by the Luftwaffe in an air raid on the city on the night of November 30, 1940.
On that fateful night, several girls were in the building on ARP duty and were rushed out to safety. In a show of true British stoicism, one of the senior girls said "Never mind, come home with me and I'll make you all breakfast."
However when they reached her "home" it had been razed to the ground with the only remaining belonging being a sewing machine lodged in a tree.
Tyrrell and Green's general manager during this difficult time, Mr R.C. Hurst, recalled, "I can't imagine anyone who was in Southampton on that tragic night ever forgetting the scene.The whole town was burning."
Unperturbed and with determination, the work of Tyrrell and Green had to continue and on the Saturday following the blitz on the Southampton store they had opened again at Winchester near the Butter Cross.
Even though they were trading again within a week, finding suitable premises in Southampton was not easy, and it was not until the following February that temporary offices at the Bargate became available.
After making some alterations, the firm was trading again in Southampton in March 1941.
Despite the difficult conditions in the years that followed, some very successful trading was done, with sales almost doubling in the years between 1942-48.
It wasn't until the summer of 1954 that the John Lewis Building Company began clearing the remainder of the bombed site in preparation for the rebuilding.
The first completed part of the new building was occupied in June 1955 with dress materials, furnishing fabrics, household linens, hardware, fashion accessories and men's and boys' wear.
When the completed new Tyrrell and Green store was opened in May the following year it was afforded the full red carpet treatment and the opening ceremony was watched by many civic heads and leaders of public life within Southampton.
Its impressive facade, a vivid expanse of green Westmorland slate and 11,000 square feet of glass, looked down imposingly on the cheering crowds that had gathered to witness the event around the Above Bar site.
The store was officially declared open when the mayor (Alderman Mrs M O'Higgins) cut the white ribbon clearing the path to the main entrance, to the great excitement of the awaiting shoppers.
Tyrrell and Green was back in a big way and back to sell everything that a giant modern department store should sell, while yet remaining the "good taste and good manners" watchword of that first, late Victorian drapery shop.
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