Shoolbred, James

James Shoolbred was a retailer of furnishing textiles and carpets establishing his shop in Tottenham Court Road in London during the 1820s.

By the 1880s the enterprise had expanded so much that they business had to move and became a early type of department store. The new store was extremely popular, mainly because it showed displays of interior decorative schemes, with ‘rooms’ laid out with all the various furniture, textiles, carpets and accessories needed to achieve the overall ‘look’. This made it easy for customers to see what their purchases would look like ‘in situ’. It was also a great marketing device as customers could buy whole interior designs without the need to consult an interior designer.

The firm went into manufacturing furniture in the 1870s and this furniture along with other interior accessories were featured in catalogues which started to be sent out in 1873. The catalogues were another stroke of marketing genius as they spread the James Shoolbred & Co name and designs much further afield than London. The catalogues even reached Australia and New Zealand where the furniture designs were incorporated into local manufacturing, with the pictures being so detailed and accurate as to be equivalent to actual patterns. All the major revival movements featured in the catalogues ranging from Japanese to Gothic and also included a number of French styles.

Despite James Shoolbred & Co’s popularity they ran into financial difficulties after the 1929 crash and closed in 1931.