H. Samuel facts for kids
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| Private limited company | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | (Liverpool, England) 1862 |
| Founder | Harriet Samuel |
| Headquarters | Imperial Place 3, Maxwell Road, Borehamwood, WD6 1JN |
| Products | Jewellery |
| Owner | Signet Jewelers |
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Number of employees
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17,200 (2008) (Signet Group Results) |
H. Samuel is a popular jewellery store chain. It has many shops in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of a larger group of jewellery stores called the Signet Group.
Contents
The Start of H. Samuel
In the middle of the 1800s, two brothers, Moses and Lewis Samuel, had a business in Liverpool. They made clocks and worked with silver. Moses Samuel's daughter-in-law, a woman named Harriet Samuel, took over the business.
Harriet moved the business to Manchester. She started selling items through mail-order, which means customers ordered from a catalog and received items by post. Soon, she opened more shops in towns like Rochdale and other places in Lancashire. By 1884, the company even had special names for its watches, like Acme and Climax.
Growing Across the Country
The very first H. Samuel shop opened in Preston in 1890. This was a big step for the company. By the year 1900, H. Samuel had opened more than 10 stores. Just 14 years later, in 1914, they had about 50 shops!
To handle all this growth, the company needed a bigger main office. So, in 1912, they moved their headquarters to Birmingham.
New Leaders and More Growth
After the Second World War, Harriet's grandsons, Gilbert Edgar and Robert Edgar, took charge. In 1948, the company's shares were listed on the London Stock Exchange. This meant people could buy parts of the company.
Gilbert Edgar was recognized for his public work. He became a Sheriff of the City of London. He also became the Master of the Clockmakers' Company. During this time, the number of H. Samuel stores grew to over 200 across the country.
Big Changes and New Ownership
In the late 1970s, after the brothers passed away, Robert's son became the new chairman. In 1984, H. Samuel bought another company called James Walker Group. This purchase doubled the number of H. Samuel stores in the UK.
In 1986, a company called Ratner's Jewellers bought H. Samuel. Later, in 1992, Ratner's Jewellers faced some challenges. Because of this, the Ratner Group changed its name to the Signet Group. Many of the old Ratner's stores were then renamed as H. Samuel shops.
In 2005, H. Samuel launched its first website where people could buy jewellery online. By 2008, the company had 17,200 employees. As of 2015, there were 303 H. Samuel stores.
