Whiteleys Shopping Centre
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Whiteleys Shopping Centre by Des Blenkinsopp as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Whiteleys Shopping Centre
Image: © Des Blenkinsopp Taken: 14 Jun 2013
This impressive facade is all that's left of what was London's first department store. From a single shop in the 1860s the store rapidly expanded until a huge fire in 1887 destroyed the old premises. The new store, with this frontage, was built in 1911. It closed in 1981 and most of the building was demolished and reconstructed, opening again in 1989 as a multiple store shopping centre. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteleys The founder, William Whiteley, arrived in London from Yorkshire with £10. He built up a retail business supplying more or less everything to the expanding market of Victorian London. He became a millionaire in the process, only to be murdered in 1907, shot by an illegitimate son, so sadly, he wouldn't have seen this building. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Whiteley
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Image Location
Latitude
51.513923
Longitude
-0.18819