One of city's oldest department stores remembered

Browns of Chester closed its doors three years ago

A former city centre department store, documented in local history books, will be celebrated at a one-off exhibition.

The iconic Cheshire store Browns of Chester is the focus of the More than a Shop exhibition at the city's Grosvenor Museum until 1 September.

Often described as "the Harrods of the North", for more than 250 years Browns stood on The Rows at the heart of Chester's shopping district, before its closure in May 2021.

The exhibition features recordings of local people sharing their memories of the historic store, and work by local creatives inspired by original Browns' adverts.

Artist Lisa Harman created a set of letterpress posters inspired by Browns' marketing materials

Founded in 1780 by Susannah Brown, Browns of Chester was hailed as a "pillar" of Chester's commercial and cultural life .

Its status was so focal to the city that when the department store was taken over by Debenhams in 1976, it was the only shop in the chain to continue under its original name.

Its closure in May 2021 marked the end of 230 years of continuous trading from the Grade I-listed building on Eastgate Street.

The display, in the city's Coins gallery, captures what the department store meant to the local community in its heyday, and showcases stories from the Browns of Chester archive collection which is looked after by Cheshire Archives and Local Studies.

The soundscape, posters and music composition were commissioned by the Cheshire West and Chester Arts Team and funded by Historic England.

Among the recorded memories, one extract recalls the store's "old-fashioned" values and its role as Chester's "principal shopping destination".

“Do you know, at one time Brown’s was known for looking after you from birth to death. They could organise a christening, they could organise engagement parties, your wedding and they could even bury you," one local voice remembers.

The city centre store is now under new ownership but future plans for the building have not yet been revealed.