Bentalls was established in 1867 by Frank Bentall who purchased a drapery shop in Kingston upon Thames. The principal buildings of the Kingston store were completed in 1935 to a design by architect Maurice Webb and inspired by Wren's design for Hampton Court. The fine stonework on the façade was the work of Eric Gill. Between 1935 and 1976 it was the UK's largest department store outside central London. It became a Grade II listed building in 2011. The facade of the original store has been retained as part of the Bentall Centre shopping development which was opened in 1992, in which the principal Bentalls store is now located. The store previously occupied buildings covering the entire site of the development. The company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1946, but the Bentall family retained a controlling interest. Bentalls established their first branch store in 1947 when the Worthing department store of Bentall & Sons was acquired from family cousins who had decided to retire. The Worthing business was significantly extended with the purchase of the Jordan & Cook furniture store in later years. The Ealing department store of Eldred Sayers & Son was acquired in 1950. Mary Lee of Tunbridge Wells was purchased a decade later. Under the association with Frank Bentall's grandson Rowan Bentall, who was Chairman between 1968-1978, the company expanded with a new purpose-built Bentalls department store opening in Bracknell in 1973. Further stores were opened in Chatham, Tonbridge and Lakeside. As a result, the group's turnover more than doubled from £14.5 million to £35.1 million. The company subsequently opened a store in Bristol and closed the stores in Chatham and Tunbridge Wells. In 2000, the chain rejected a £27 million offer from its rival Allders. In January 2001, Bentalls sold their loss-making Bristol store to rival House of Fraser for £16.35 million. In June of that year, the family-owned rival department store chainFenwick purchased Bentalls for £70.8 million. The Bentall family's shareholding at the time was 38%, with Frank Bentall's great grandson Edward Bentall being the Chairman. The company's turnover was £108.2 million. The chain then consisted of six stores: Bracknell, Ealing, Kingston upon Thames, Lakeside, Tonbridge and Worthing. Fenwick subsequently sold the Lakeside store to Allders and the leases of the Bentalls sites in Ealing, Tonbridge and Worthing to the Bournemouth based Beales group. The successful stores in Kingston upon Thames and Bracknell were retained. The Bracknell branch was replaced in September 2017 by a new Fenwick store as part of The Lexicon development.
Current operations
Kingston is one of the largest retail centres in the south-east and Bentalls itself is popular among many shoppers. In the days approaching Christmas, Bentalls Kingston is said to take over £1 million per day.
Singer Dusty Springfield once worked at Bentalls in Ealing and singer Petula Clark gave her first public performance as a child at Bentalls in Kingston upon Thames. Bentalls is mentioned by the character Chubb in the Anthony Blunt episode of the stage playSingle Spies by Alan Bennett. Bentalls features in the Ladybird Books People at Work series, appearing in In A Big Store Bentalls Wood Street entrance also features in the Ladybird Books People at Work series " The Police". A night time scene where two police constables are arresting what appears to be some burglars.
