1871 Thomas Lipton (1848-1931) used his small savings to open his own shop, in Glasgow, Scotland - Lipton's Market.
By the 1880s the business had grown to more than 200 shops.
1888 By this time his empire had grown to 300 stores; Lipton then entered the tea trade and opened his tea-tasting office. He started by-passing traditional trading and wholesale distribution channels in order to sell teas at unprecedentedly low prices to the working class. In order to provide his shops with goods, Lipton bought plantations and in doing so - amongst other things - he established the famous Lipton tea brand.
1898 Lipton Ltd was registered on 3 March, to take over the provision-supplying business in Great Britain of Sir Thomas J. Lipton, with tea growing estates in Ceylon and factories and warehouses in London and elsewhere. [1]
1914 Tea growers and merchants, provision merchants, naval and military contractors. Specialities: tea, coffee, cocoa, chocolate, preserves (jams, marmalade, bottled fruits etc.), provisions of every description, poultry, game etc. Employees 10,000. [2]
1922 British Industries Fair Advert as the 'Largest Manufacturers and Distributors of Food Products in the World'. Lipton's are the Actual Manufacturers of: Biscuits, Cocoa, Chocolate, Confectionery, Pickles, Sauces, Jams and Jellies, Marmalade, Sausages, Potted Meats, Coffee Essence, Cornflour, Farinaceous Preparations. By appointment to H. M. King of Spain; H. M. King George V; T. M. King and Queen of Italy. (Stand No. B.7) [3]
1929 Liptons was one of a number of retail companies that formed Allied Suppliers to enable group purchasing of supplies[4]; others included Home and Colonial Stores, Maypole Dairy Co, Meadow Dairy Co and Pearks Dairies.
1930 Allied Stores was registered to acquire Home and Colonial Stores, Meadow Dairy Co, Maypole Dairy Co, Pearks Dairies and the International Tea Company's Stores and also shares of Lipton Ltd[5] but the merger fell through.
1931 Home and Colonial Stores acquired Lipton[6]
1960 The name of the retail group was changed to Allied Suppliers, with more than 3,000 stores that traded on the high street under a variety of names.[7]
Lipton's became a supermarket chain focused on small towns, before Allied's acquisition by Argyll Foods in 1982. The supermarket business was rebranded as Presto during the 1980s.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book
- ↑ 1922 British Industries Fair Advert ccxxix; and p49
- ↑ The Times Apr 01, 1930
- ↑ The Times, Jul 12, 1930
- ↑ The Times, Mar 21, 1931
- ↑ The Times May 11, 1960
- Wikipedia [1]