Battle launched to save Beatties

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MPs, business leaders and shoppers have joined forces to demand that plans to consign the name to history be scrapped.

Beatties' owner House of Fraser was taken over this week by Icelandic company Baugur, in a £351 million deal.

Baugur's 38-year-old chief executive Jon Asgeir Johannesson claimed the traditional name Beatties "lacked resonance" with shoppers.

Instead the Beatties name is to be scrapped and replaced with the House of Fraser.

Beatties, established in Wolverhampton in 1877, has been the city's flagship store ever since.

It also has 11 other branches including one in Dudley which was opened in 1969.

Midlands historian Professor Carl Chinn today led the furious reaction to the news that the Beatties name is set to go. He said Baugur should use an official 'review period' following the takeover to think again and realise the error of its ways.

He said:"Beatties is a part of Wolverhampton's history. If it disappeared it would become part of a litany of established names across the West Midlands which have been lost.

"It is important for these names to be retained on businesses, buildings and road names because it gives us a sense of who we are and of belonging to an area."

Professor Chinn said all towns and cities were starting to look the same.

He said: "They all have the same road names, shops and businesses - it's one of the reasons that our young people don't have knowledge of their local towns or pride to be from them.

"Our history is becoming like quicksand disappearing from beneath us."

Gary Burke manages another of Wolverhampton's best-known businesses, Burke Bros Moving Group, which was established more than 30 years ago.

He said he knew the importance of having loyal customers from the local area.

He said: "If the Beatties name goes the store might lose that base.

"As a child everyone round here knew that Santa Claus didn't live in Lapland.

"We all thought he lived in Beatties. That was the type of place it was and is how people round here think of it."

Margaret Corneby, the Black Country Chamber of Commerce director for Wolverhampton, called on those keen to save the Beatties name to press home their message.

She said: "I can understand a new owner of a chain of retail shops would want to impose their own personality on them.

"And the most important thing is that this takeover should mean the preservation of local jobs.

"But it is distressing to lose the name of Beatties. Given that Baugur has decided to keep the Jenners name in Edinburgh due to local loyalty then we should lobby very strongly to keep the Beatties name."

By Daniel Pountney

What does Beatties mean to you? We want your comments, which we will send to bosses at Baugur.

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* Write to: Save Our Beatties, Newsdesk, Express & Star, 51-53 Queen Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1ES