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Yorkshire Trading Company
Company typeLimited
IndustryRetail
Founded1954; 70 years ago (1954)
Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom
FounderJohn and Molly Nichols
HeadquartersDriffield, United Kingdom
Number of locations
35 (including 1 Goodwins branded store)
Key people
James, Edward & Michael Nichols
Productsclothing, crafts, homeware, haberdashery, DIY, toys, confectionery, pet care
Number of employees
425
Websitewww.yorkshiretrading.com

The Yorkshire Trading Company is a chain of variety and discount stores founded and based in Northern England, it is a family-run business dating back to 1954 and is now into the third and fourth generations. It operates 34 Yorkshire Trading Company stores from as far north as Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland to Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.

History

In 1954, John Nichols opened his first shop in Kingston upon Hull, by 1985 the Nichols family (John, his wife Molly and his two sons Paul and Robert) had eight stores in towns such as Whitby and Bridlington, and in 1995 the store count had increased to 12 with locations in Richmond and Ripon. With the demise of high street giant Woolworths in 2008, 11 more shops were also added to the portfolio.

The business had several speciality stores under different names; James Piper was the name given to a glassware store in Driffield operated by Tom Nichols, John's youngest son. Other store names such as JC Nichols and Barmy Bob's were phased out in 2000 as the company rebranded all of their locations under the Yorkshire Trading Company banner and became a limited company.

In 2015, work was completed on the construction of a new purpose built distribution centre and head office, costing £7 million, located at Kellythorpe Industrial Estate, Driffield.[1]

Yorkshire Trading store in Leek

Rydale

A range of outdoor, equestrian and country fashion that is designed in-house and manufactured mostly in the United Kingdom. The first Rydale products were imported in 2001 (then known as Snow Drop) and since then it has become the largest clothing operation on trade show circuits around the UK, with over 140 shows attended.

Goodwins

Goodwins began life as a single price point store, selling all items for £1 or less but now operates as a multi price point discount retailer. As of 2018 four Goodwins branded stores where operational, the original being found in Bridlington and the others in Northallerton, Redcar and Richmond. As of 2023 only the Goodwins store in Bridlington remains. Goodwins previously opened a temporary store on the site of the former JJB Sports in Scarborough.[2] There is no mention of the Goodwins brand on the Yorkshire Trading website.

References

  1. ^ "Contact us". Yorkshire Trading Company. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  2. ^ "Business sprints in to grab empty JJB premises". The Scarborough News. 27 November 2013. Archived from the original on 30 November 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2020.

External links

Variety stores
Categories