Oldrids & Downtown

Oldrids & Downtown are one of the oldest department store groups in the UK having been founded in 1804 by Mr. John Oldrid and Mr. Richard Hyde, a small retailer who specialised as a draper, mercer, hosier, haberdasher and funeral director. During 1831 John Oldrid took over the running of the business and did so until 1905. Mr Sydney Smith then ran the business from 1906 until 1915. It was at this time that Oldrids was acquired by the current owners; the Isaac family, when Mr. Robert Isaac purchased the original store from him. As the business continued to flourish, the decision was taken to expand in to selling furniture in a building on New Street in Boston. This part of the business grew and the Isaac family had both the vision and the courage to purchase an out of town site in Wyberton and in 1981 the first Downtown; and one of the country’s earliest out of town stores, was opened. On the back of the success of the Downtown Boston store, during 1985, the Company then purchased a 10-acre field next to the A1 in Grantham, and in 1989 the second Downtown was built on this site. In 1996 the Company welcomed Boundary Mill Stores as a brand-new tenant to the site, who trade discounted, outlet fashion brands on the ground floor of Downtown Grantham.Business at the Grantham site went from strength to strength and a further 16 acres of land were subsequently purchased to facilitate the construction of a significant Distribution Centre in 1997, enabling the Company to deliver directly to the customer from the Grantham site, and a major Garden Centre in 2000 which helped to further establish the Downtown Grantham site as a significant regional retail destination.The Company had ambitions to expand further and in 2013, the bold decision was taken to take on two struggling stores from Lincolnshire Co-op on a leasehold basis. Despite the Company’s best efforts, the performance of the two stores could not be improved sufficiently and notice was served to the landlord in the January of 2017. The Lincoln store’s last day of trade was Sunday July 23rd, 2017 and the Gainsborough store is due to cease trading as an Oldrids & Downtown outlet January 2018.Richard Broadhead joined Oldrids & Downtown as Managing Director in April 2017 and has ambitious plans to grow the business across Lincolnshire and beyond. In addition to opening new retail stores, plans were recently announced to develop a major new Designer Outlet Centre at Downtown Grantham, to serve Lincolnshire and the wider region. You can see more on these exciting plans at www.downtowngranthamdesigneroutlet.com.