Colsons was started in 1792 by Mrs Colson, the widower of a member of King George's diplomatic service. Mrs Colson was a milliner by trade but her new store also sold silk and tea amongst other goods. Mrs Colson's son John Worthy Colson joined the business and in 1829 he took a partner into the business. The new business was called Colson & Spark, however the partnership did not last long and ended in 1832. By 1870 the business again entered into a partnership, becoming Colson and Gates which lasted until 1889, when the business reverted to the name Colson & Co. Previously in 1887, George Colson had taken over the running of the business and had provided the company's entire stock of calico to help wrap the dead bodies from the Theatre Royal fire which had killed 186. In 1913 George sold the business to a local JP, Sir Edgar Plummer who ran the store for 12 years. In 1925 the store was purchased from Sir Edgar by Brights, a fellow department store located in Bournemouth, with the business trading under the Colsons of Exeter brand. During the Second World War, the store was damaged by bombing raids, but parts of the store had been saved and continued to operate. After the war the business had plans drawn up to refurbish the buildings but by 1953, new plans were drawn up by architects F W Beech & E Curnow Cookes to rebuild the whole store in nine phases, to allow for business to continue. When the new store was completed it had increased in size taking in neighbouring stores, Bellmans and Wymans. The business continued to operate as part of Brights until 1960, when Brights were purchased by a rival Bournemouth based department store group called J J Allen. Under J J Allen ownership the business added the J J Allen stores Mayron Fashion and Chanelle as departments, and by 1966 the store had its own Food Hall. In 1969, however J J Allen were purchased by House of Fraser for £5.3 million and merged into its Harrods group. But this did not last long and in 1971, House of Fraser purchased the west country department store group E Dingle & Co and all the House of Fraser stores in the west country were transferred into the new Dingles division and re-branded under the Dingles name.
