Great Universal Stores

E851997

Great Universal Stores was a major British retail and mail-order conglomerate that became one of the UK’s largest commercial enterprises in the mid-20th century.

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Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf mail-order company
public company
retail conglomerate
businessModel catalogue-based mail-order retailing
credit-based consumer finance
businessStrategy expansion of mail-order catalogues
growth through acquisition of other retailers
country United Kingdom
declinePeriod late 20th century
fate acquired and restructured
foundedBy Abraham Zilkha NERFINISHED
Isaac Wolfson NERFINISHED
hasAbbreviation GUS NERFINISHED
hasShareListing London Stock Exchange NERFINISHED
headquartersLocation London NERFINISHED
Manchester NERFINISHED
inception 1900s
industry financial services
mail-order
retail
mergedInto Shop Direct NERFINISHED
notableExecutive Isaac Wolfson NERFINISHED
notableFor department stores ownership
installment credit sales
mail-order catalogues
operatedIn Ireland NERFINISHED
United Kingdom NERFINISHED
continental Europe
owned Argos (stake) NERFINISHED
Burton Group (stake) NERFINISHED
Financial services operations
Mail-order brands in the UK
peakPeriod mid-20th century
productOrService clothing
consumer credit
furniture
household goods
reasonForDecline competition from high-street retailers
rise of e-commerce
relativeSize one of the UK’s largest commercial enterprises
stockIndexMembership FTSE indices (historical) NERFINISHED
successor Littlewoods Shop Direct NERFINISHED
Shop Direct Group NERFINISHED
targetCustomer lower-middle-class households in the UK
working-class households in the UK
timePeriod 20th century
typeOfEnterprise family-influenced conglomerate

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Isaac Wolfson employer Great Universal Stores