Deansgate, House of Fraser

Image: © David Dixon Taken: 7 Dec 2020

Looking along Deansgate. The monumental block of Portland limestone on the right, adorned with bright purple and white lights, was built in 1939, by JS Beaumont as an extension to the Kendal Milnes store built in 1873 across Deansgate to which it was connected by a tunnel under the road (the tunnel was in use until 1981 when it was blocked off following the sale of the eastern site which now houses Waterstones book store). Kendal Milnes had been purchased by Harrods in 1919 and, for a period during the 1920s, it traded as “Harrods” but the name was swiftly changed to “Kendals" (no apostrophe) following protests from customers and staff. The Harrods group was taken over by House of Fraser in 1959 but the store continued trading as Kendals until 2005, when, after extensive refurbishment, it was renamed "House of Fraser Manchester" (although most Mancunians continued to call it “Kendals". The building is Grade II-listed (as Nos 98-116, Deansgate, Historic England List Entry Number: 1200851 https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1200851 ).

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