41-44, North Street, Brighton

Image: © Simon Carey Taken: 27 Sep 2015

Originally four shops that have been whittled down to two over the years. Number forty-one to forty-three is now home to The Body Shop whilst number forty-four is the narrow shop on the right. The first to combine was forty-two and forty-three; the former had been a watchmaker and draper prior to being taken over by the latter’s bookseller in the 1860s. Other than a brief period after the war when the building reverted to two shops it has been occupied either by a tailors, a watchmakers and since 1982 The Body Shop whose original store had been opened in 1976 in Kensington Gardens in the North Laine. Forty-one had also been a bookseller and combined with the forty-two and forty-three during the occupancy of bookseller WJ Smith and continuing under the Russell Brothers tailors. However, it remained separate after the war becoming another bookshop, a drugstore, a camera dealer and eighteen years as a shoe repair bar until the 1990s when the Body Shop once more joined the units altogether. Forty four is a small premises and as such has had a regular turnover of businesses. After thirty years as a dyer it then became florist, restaurant, tailor, photographers studio, confectioner, chemist and TV rental dealer. In the 1970s it became a recruitment bureau first under Alfred Marks and continued when the business was taken over by Adecco. The latter closed its office in 2012 after nearly forty years and since then a variety of short term leaseholders selling the usual gifts and luggage have passed through. OLD IMAGES Number 43 before 1912 - http://regencysociety-jamesgray.com/volume21/source/jg_21_082.html OCCUPANTS 41 1845-1854 - FRUITERER (Samuel Joel) 1856-1913 - BOOKSELLERS (1856-64 C Hindley; 1865-1913 WJ Smith) 1914-1939 - TAILORS (Russell Brothers) 1947 - LADIES HAIRDRESSERS (Vogue) 1949-1958 - BOOKSELLERS (Q Bookshop) 1960 - DRUGSTORE (J Fox) 1962-1964 - CAMERA DEALER (Brighton Camera Centre Ltd) 1966-1994 - SHOE REPAIRS (Auto Magic Heel Bar) 42 1845-1850 - CLOCK & WATCHMAKER (John Guiness) 1852-1862 - DRAPER & HOSIER (1852-60 James Ranger; 1862 Richard Pooley) 1947 - HANDBAG DEALER (Vogue Handbags) 43 1845-1912 - BOOKSELLER (1845-56 Henry Cullis; 1859-1912 WJ Smith) 1947 - BOOKSELLER (Q Bookshop) 42-43 1914-1939 - TAILORS (Russell Brothers) 1949-1982 - WATCHMAKERS (1949-56 Richards & Parkers; 1958 Weir & Sons; 1960-82 HM Stanley) 1982-2015 - BODY SHOP 44 1845-1874 - DYER & CALENDERER (Elizabeth Arminger & Sons) 1875-1884 - FRUITERER & FLORIST (BF Davis) 1885-1893 - RESTAURANT (The Cyprus Restaurant and Hotel) 1894-1918 - TAILOR (Ellis Brothers & Co) 1921-1922 - PHOTOGRAPHER (D Kontili) 1923-1924 - CONFECTIONER (V Harrison) 1925-1939 - CHEMIST (1925-31 W Georges Ltd; 1932-39 WG Northey) 1947-1960 - TAILOR (Frederick Bowditch) 1964 - TV RENTAL (Family Television Ltd) 1968-1973 - SHOE REPAIRS (BSC) 1973-2012 - RECRUITMENT BUREAU (Alfred Marks 1973-91, Adecco 1996-2012)

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