Palmers Department Store

Palmers can trace its history back to June 1837[2] when Garwood Burton Palmer opened a small linens and drapery shop in Great Yarmouth Market Place.[3] In 1844 his younger brother Nathaniel Palmer joined the business.[4] In 1888, when Garwood Palmer died at the age of 73, the business transferred into the hands of Nathaniel Palmer's sons and the business became known as Palmer Brothers.[5] The shop was the first building in Great Yarmouth to be illuminated by electricity in the town in 1902.[6]

Palmers has survived two major fires and bomb damage. Palmers is still owned and run by descendants of the store's original founder.[7] The company expanded in the 1990s and 2000s taking on stores in Bury St Edmunds, Dereham and Lowestoft.[8] It has previously had a branch in Red Lion Street, Norwich.[9]

In 2012 a blue plaque was placed outside the Conservative Club of Gorleston by the Great Yarmouth Local History and Archaeological Society, to commemorate the former home of the founder Garwood Burton Palmer.[10]

In 2014 the Dereham store was sold to Basil Todd, and closed in March 2015.[11]

In 2018, Palmers' sole two stores, (Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk and Lowestoft, in Suffolk), were acquired by Beales Department Stores bringing Palmers’ run of being family-owned for 180 years to an end[12] Despite this, the company still boasts that it is the 'longest established independent department store in the country'.

When Palmers was sold, a significant loss was taken by the chains former owner in order to sell, with the previous owners realising that there was no future for the department store on its own. The buildings that Palmers owned were sold, Lowestoft was sold for £830,000 and the Great Yarmouth branch for £1.5m, these were then leased back to Palmers. When the chain was sold to Beales, the building leases were also sold off as with all trading assets and the stores became a trading name of Beales.

On 20th of January 2020, Beales which had purchased Palmers back in late-2018 entered administration, following continuous losses and strain on finances. Palmers did originally survive the first round of announced closures on the 9th February 2020, however it was later announced on the 18th February 2020 that all of Beales stores were to close, including Palmers in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft but no date was set.

At the beginning of March 2020, it was confirmed that the Great Yarmouth store would close on the 15th March 2020 and the administrators expected the Lowestoft store to continue trading until the end of March in line with Beales other estate. The cafe at the Great Yarmouth store closed on the 7th March 2020 and all access to the lower floors was restricted and on the 14th March 2020 the branch of Hays Travel, an ex-Thomas Cook branch also closed, with all staff being relocated temporarily to Lowestoft whilst a new branch was sought, with the Great Yarmouth store finally closing at 3pm on the 15th March 2020.

It was originally anticipated that the Lowestoft branch would continue to trade until at least the end of March or even early-April, however the closure date was brought forward due to the Coronavirus outbreak, and the store closed in line with Beales other stores early on the 18th March 2020, after this the Palmers name, as with Beales ceased to exist ending 183 years of trading.

• Palmers Department Store