JUST a snip with a pair of gold-plated scissors and the ceremonial white ribbon was cut, declaring Southampton’s Edwin Jones department store – hailed as the“most up-to-date in the south’’ – officially re-opened on Thursday, March 12, 1959.
The Daily Echo at the time read: “With that snip, a gap of nearly 19 years was bridged. It was on the night of December 1, 1940 that the firm’s original building was destroyed by Hitler’s bombs.
“Today in the bracing spring sun-shine, the new Queen’s Building, with one of the most attractive exteriors in the rebuilt Southampton,was in business.’’
The opening ceremony was performed by Mrs J Bedford, wife of the store’s chairman, and was watched by hundreds of shoppers all wanting to be among the first to see inside the store.
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