HALF a century ago today, on April 15, 1965, the then Mayor of Southampton, Mrs Elsie Williams, snipped a ceremonial ribbon and declared the brand new three-storey department store of Plummers Roddis on Above Bar officially open to a watching clutch of excited shoppers.

Plummers was something of an institution in Southampton that could trace its roots back to the 1870s.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Plummer Roddis Limited, to give the shop its full title, was an imposing building at the junction where Above Bar and Commercial Road met.

The building, a prominent landmark for many living in pre-war Southampton, had an almost stately appearance with marble pillars and a domed roof.

But, like many of Southampton’s grand pre-war architecture, the original Plummers building fell victim to the devastating bombing raids of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, leaving a gaping void where the proud building once stood.

Temporary buildings were erected by the company on the site to go some way to supply the needs of shoppers in the interim, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that plans were drawn up to replace these structures with a new permanent premises.

After initial planning problems dogged the blueprint for a new shop, rebuilding of the shop was finally under way in 1962 as demolition men moved in and construction work began.

It was the last of the Blitzed stores in Above Bar to be re-opened and almost completed the post-war rebuilding programme for the street on its completion.

Daily Echo:

When it was opened, the new Plummers was described in Echo reports of the time as “Yet another magnificent new addition to Southampton’s main shopping area.”

With four sales floors, giving a total floor area of 90,000 sq ft, the store took the mantle of being the biggest and most modern of the 16 stores operated throughout the South and West by Plummer Roddis.

Included inside the new premises were new departments dedicated to radio, television and electrical appliances, as well as a new restaurant overlooking the fashion floor.

The luxuriously appointed restaurant also boasted views of the Civic Centre and the docks and teatime customers would also watch fashion shows with models showcasing the newest fashions. There was also a new hairdressing salon on the first floor staffed by skilled creative hairdressers and manicurists.

Daily Echo:

After cutting the ribbon to officially open the store, the mayor told a large crowd that had gathered outside: “May there never be another war to demolish this building.”

She thanked Plummer Roddis for providing “such a fine store” and added: “May the women of Southampton spend many happy hours in the store and may it also add to the visitors of Southampton.”

In the years that followed its opening, fashions came and went on the shelves and rails inside Plummers.

Silk stockings made way for tights in the women’s department which was among the first to sell miniskirts in Southampton.

At first business was brisk but by the 1970s rumours began circulating about the store’s future.

A management buyout saved the store for a further few years but even the introduction of tea dances in the restaurant was not enough to save it, and the shop closed in August 1993.

The building underwent a £5m refit and opened again in September 1994 as part of the former Southampton Institute of Higher Education.