Lewis & Cooper facts for kids

Lewis & Cooper Ltd

Type	Private limited company
Founded	1899
Founder	George Lewis Binks Cooper
Headquarters	Northallerton , England
Area served	United Kingdom
Key people	David Geary (chairman) Jonathan Hindley (Director) David Pears (Retail Director)
Number of employees	85

Lewis & Cooper Ltd is a special food shop, also known as a delicatessen. It's located in the town of Northallerton, in North Yorkshire, England. Two friends, George Lewis and Binks Barton Cooper, started the shop way back in 1899. Today, it's still run by the family of George Lewis!

Since the 1980s, Lewis & Cooper has become very famous. Some people even call it the "Fortnum & Mason of the North," which means it's a very fancy and well-known food store. They are especially famous for their delicious Christmas puddings and gift baskets called hampers. You can buy these online, in their shop, and even in other big stores like Selfridge's and Harvey Nichols.

The Story of Lewis & Cooper

The main Lewis & Cooper shop in Northallerton is in a very old building. It was built a long time ago, in the 1600s!

How It All Started

In 1899, George Henry Lewis and Binks Barton Cooper both worked as managers at a grocery store in Northallerton. When the owner decided to sell the business, which wasn't doing very well, George and Binks decided to buy it themselves. This is called a management buyout.

The company officially became a business in January 1903. Binks Cooper was a sleeping partner, which means he invested money but wasn't involved in the daily running of the shop. He sold his share of the business in 1914. Even though he left, the name Lewis & Cooper stayed the same. The company has been selling gift hampers since 1936.

Changes Over Time

By the late 1970s, fewer people were shopping at Lewis & Cooper. This was because big supermarkets were becoming very popular. To keep the business going, Lewis & Cooper changed its focus. It stopped being just a regular grocery store and became a special shop for fancy and unique foods.

In 1999, something new was added to the Northallerton store: tea rooms! These were opened on the first floor, in what used to be the manager's living area. In the same year, the store was even featured on the new Yorkshire Monopoly board game!

Lewis & Cooper tried opening other shops too. A smaller store opened in Yarm in 2001, but it closed in June 2020. Another shop opened in Harrogate in December 2011, but it also closed in January 2013 because sales weren't as good as they hoped.

What Lewis & Cooper Sells

Lewis & Cooper is known for selling many special food items that you usually can't find in regular supermarkets. These include things like Chatka crab, Russian caviar (fish eggs), and quail eggs.

A Huge Selection

The Northallerton store has an amazing 32,000 different types of products! To give you an idea, most supermarkets only have about 5,000 different items. All these products are spread out across a large area of 6,000 square feet.

About 25% of all the products sold at the Northallerton store come from local businesses in the Yorkshire area. A writer named Rhiannon Batten from The Independent newspaper once called the store "one of the UK's most famous food emporiums," which means it's a very well-known and important food shop in the country.