Westbourne Grove Fire and Reopening
In 1897 disaster struck and the store in Westbourne Grove burnt down. In his autobiography, Drawn From Memory, E. H. Shepard said the fire could be seen from Highgate Hill, and some days later when he and his friend Cyril were allowed to visit Westbourne Grove, that, "The long front of the shop was a sorry sight with part of the wall fallen and the rest blackened."
Whiteleys was to rise again like the Phoenix from the fire, when the Lord Mayor of London in the presence of thousands opened the new store in Queensway on 21 November 1911. This was claimed to be the largest British store in the world.
Read more about this topic: William Whiteley
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