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Griffins and Spalding brings back memories for me my mum used to work in G AN S making there wedding dresses. When I used to leave work at 4 00 I had to catch my bus in slab square but before going ho

Timeline ---------------- 1846 Robert and Edward Dickinson commence trading as a drapers shop on Long Row 01/04/1858 MESSRS. R. & E. DICKINSON have pleasure in announcing that they have taken

Come on DAVID W, stop messing about and get some research done !! Your posts really put flesh on the bones of this Nottingham institution.

Certainly do! G and S 's restaurant was called The Four Seasons. Dunno why, but most of the parties I went to were either in Sherwood or Arnold.

Funny isnt it, if anyone was meeting someone in town, it was always either outside Lyons, or near the lions in the Market Square!

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In 'Nottingham 1897-47', Douglas Whitworth states that Griffin and Spalding built their department store in 1886. In 1926 it was pulled down and replaced by the present store.

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Hi, I worked for Griffin and Spalding in 1971 which was featured in the Nottingham Evening Post when we changed to Decimal currency.

Just phoned my sister who worked there in the 60's and married the doorman Richard his mother worked in the sewing room.

Debenhams bought Griffin's about 1965 but didn't change the name til after 1971 as they thought people wouldn't what to shop there as a change of name would lower the profile of the shop.

Cheers

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There was a 'Heel Bar' next to the Record section in the basement of Griffins, in the early 60's, if my memory serves me well???

My Scoutmaster, from Notts 28th scouts, ran the heel bar for a while............dib,dib,dib........... !rotfl!

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Griffins and Spalding brings back memories for me my mum used to work in G AN S making there wedding dresses. When I used to leave work at 4 00 I had to catch my bus in slab square but before going home I would walk into Griffins my feet used to sink into the carpeted floor, it was sheer luxury.

Lyons Café also brings back memories as I waited out side there for a date to arrive, I waited and waited for at least 50mins, giving up I went to catch no 40 bus back home. When this guy taped me on the shoulder yes it
was my date. We are still together, 2015 we will have been married 50 years. Where does the time go?

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aaaaaargh as a child I hated Griffin and Spaldings as my mum used to spend hours there looking for material and patterns to make mine and her clothes. Sadly as an adult it no longer existed for me to spend time following in her footsteps, though Jessops haberdashery dept was quite adequate.

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As a teenager, I always felt a little intimidated by Griffins with the plush carpets which made the place very quiet. To me, the Big Co-op was the height of shopping sophistication, so to go into Griffins was pretty scary !!

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Funny isn't it - department store shopping in Nottingham before the "shopping centres" WAS - Big Co-op, Griffin and Spalding, or Jessops. The last two were posh shops. The Big Co-op was for the likes of us. Like others, I remember G&S as slightly snooty. We didn't go in there very often, and as Commo says, the plush carpets were definitely intimidating.

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Agreed, twas always the Co-op for us, I think the biggest draw was cheap prices AND the Divi' .................105989, never will forget that number

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Doesn't seem to be any history online that I can see of Griffin and Spalding . So here goes . it's actually difficult to find much as most of the news reports were about shop-lifting cases ! There were literally hundreds of them .

Most of the info comes from the obituaries of founders , William Griffin and J.T. (John Tricks) Spalding .

Part 1 from the Evening Post 19.02.1932

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Part 2 Death of Alderman J.T. Spalding 10.06.1924

Actually I have something in common with Mr. Spalding . It says he originally worked in the Marshall and Snelgrove store that was in Oxford St . London in 1858 .

For about 3 years I had a small shop unit within that same site (end of the 1990s) but it is now called the Plaza Shopping Centre . Unfortunately unlike him , I lost a fortune there !

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From the silver jubilee of the opening of the store 07.12.1928

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An advert from 1893

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I started work as a trainee receptionist in the hairdressing department at Griffins in 1965, it was terrifying you had to address all the customers as madam or sir and scurry around dusting the counter as the boss used to run his fingers along the counter to check for dust. It was very posh on the outside but behind the facade there was a lot of swearing in the back staff room..lol. As the lowest form of life a junior you were ignored generally. When leaving at night you went out the back entrance, I can't remember the name of the place. If you had purchased anything you could not collect it until leaving the building, all very organised and not really very friendly I felt. Left after a short time and ended up working for Boots the chemists on Wilford road, much more friendly.

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Just googled the home of William Griffin in 1932 , quoted in #10 .

The article says it says was called Riseholme , Alexandra Park .

It appears to be this place now , split into apartments . The heading calls it Riseholme but the description calls it Springfield House , The Crescent , Alexandra Park . Designed by T.C. Hine.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/flat-6/riseholme/the-crescent/nottingham/ng3-4jb/17102793

I lived for a few years just round the corner on the hill on Woodborough Rd but don't ever remember going down that posh road .

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Had a spot of lunch in the 4 Seasons (or Terrace Restaurant) just today! It's been years and years since I've been in there. Must say it's a bit run down but pleasant enough.

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