Heelas – Reading’s original Department Store (John Lewis)

Member Name: libertybell

Product:	John Lewis
Date:	14/01/01 (5678 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You get treated like royalty, keen prices, great range of goods, traditional

Disadvantages: Doesn’t open on a Monday, heating can be a bit on the hot side

History and location
++++++++++++++++++++

Heelas is one of my favourite stores in Reading. Yes we have House of Fraser in the Oracle – but you cannot beat Heelas, as I will attempt to explain later on.

Heelas is in fact part of the John Lewis Empire, which also includes Waitrose supermarkets. It has a famous slogan ‘never knowingly undersold’, which in simple language means – if you can buy it elsewhere cheaper – we will refund the difference.

So why is it called Heelas and not John Lewis? The Heelas store was named after William Heelas who set-up a Drapers shop in the nearby town of Wokingham in the 1790’s. Trade was good and so he opened a second store in Reading in Minster Street in 1854 – near to the current entrance to the Oracle Shopping centre. The store moved to its current location and became part of the John Lewis Empire in 1953. It is therefore called Heelas because the name is synonymous with Reading. There was talk of renaming the store to John Lewis – but this ran into some opposition. I’m not sure where we are with this.

So where is it? You can’t exactly miss it – it takes up a significant amount of space. The main entrance is on Broad Street and has a side entrance on Chain Street together with a rear entrance on Gun Street. It has 4 floors plus a basement.

Looking at the store from the Broad Street entrance, the first thing you notice are the window displays. Rather than having dummies wearing the latest fashion, Heelas goes for elaborate displays of…..tennis racquets, saucepans, computers and the like! Don’t ask me why – they just do!

Walking into Heelas is like walking to a West-end store like Selfridges or Liberty. Nice thick carpet, well laid out, new lurid signs, no music – in one word ‘class’. Many of the female Assistants wear blue uniforms and tights must be worn at all times! You can
tell a Heelas employee munching her sandwich outside the store on the wall in Chain Street in the middle of summer – she is the only one wearing blue tights!

What is there to see in Heelas? Well loads – depending on your interests. I’ll describe a few of my favourites even though I am hardly doing the store any justice:

The Basement
++++++++++++

This is where Heelas sell items of a ‘kitcheny’ nature. Down in the basement you can buys cookers, washing machines and other kitchen appliances. I recently noticed Dyson washing machines on sale – purple ones! They also sell a large range of glassware and china. On a more mundane level, Heelas sell a large range of kitchen utensils and nicnacs – the sort of things you used to buy in Timothy Whites (and then Boots cookshops – remember them?).

Ground floor
++++++++++++

Heelas stock a large number of Christmas goods including a good selection of ‘quality’ cribs and other ornaments. They also sell those little wooden boxes containing a bottle of port and Stilton. If you wish to buy a new wallet or other leather product – Heelas will sell it. Luggage – they sell it all. From huge great Samsonite suitcases in bright colours to big leather trunks.

In the gentlemen’s clothing section can be found a range of ‘well known’ brands suits, ties and leisure gear. Don’t forget that you are able to buy Panama hats in the summer!

First floor
+++++++++++

Heelas have an extensive children’s area selling not only clothes but cots, prams, buggies and toys. The public toilets are nearby and until the coming of the Oracle were the best in Reading. The Gents even have a baby-changing mat!

Second floor
++++++++++++

On this floor can be found the furniture articles. When we moved house, we purchased a new table from here along with some bookcase
s. On the same floor are bathroom things like colourful towels, toothbrush holders and the like. In the bedroom section are a huge range of duvets from the cheapest to the full-blown super-deluxe down filled duvets. And of course – a equally large selection of blankets, duvet covers and the like.

The one thing that differentiates Heelas from other stores are those immortal words uttered by the shop assistant ‘and how would you like to pay?’ This makes the customer feel very important. As well as taking cash/cheques and their own Store Card, Heelas now take debit and credit cards. Their receipts are A5 sized and these little things underline the quality of the store.

I could go on all night – but I won’t. Heelas could be accused of being posh and snobbish – but it really isn’t. It’s a fine upstanding Department store with traditional values, which stocks a whole range of merchandise lesser shops don’t even bother with. It also has a pricing policy which means you won’t be overcharged.

My only 2 quibbles with Heelas are:

* The heat. In the past, Heelas had a reputation for having their heating turned up even when it was quite warm outside. I think they may have recently discovered it costs money – my last visit was far more comfortable.

* They don’t open on Mondays or Sundays. John Lewis is a very benevolent company and as a rule only opens 5 days per week – so as not to overwork its staff. This can be a pain – but they may review this in the future.

I will end by quoting an example of why I think Heelas are so good. I ordered a bike for my sons 3rd birthday to be delivered from their warehouse. The bike was not only delivered to the wrong house, the deliverymen dropped/threw the box damaging the roses belonging to the resident. The Managers Secretary got involved and sorted out the problem and paid us £20 compensation for the prob
lems caused. No fuss, no hassle – sums up Heelas!

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