BOYES

In 1881 William Boyes opened a small store in Eastborough, Scarborough selling odd lots and remnants from merchants. There was great poverty in the working classes and housewives were even keener for a bargain than they are today. When customers found that they could buy enough material to make a coat or a dress cheaper than anywhere else, they soon spread the word and trade increased to such an extent that William had to look for larger premises.

William rented a large warehouse just off the main street where business continued to grow. By 1886 he purchased further units in Market Street and Queen Street and knocked them into one large store and named it 'The Remnant Warehouse'. Older customers in Scarborough still refer to the shop as 'The Rem'. As time went on William expanded his range and bought other clearance lines from merchants developing the warehouse into a department store.

Business continued to grow and go from strength to strength and in 1910 the expansion of the company started. Today W Boyes and Co Ltd operate forty stores throughout Yorkshire, the North East, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire & Leicestershire. COPY AND PASTED

When I moved to Scarborough AROUND 11 years ago I started a night job at the Elsinor nursing home on the esplanade. I hadn't worked in a few years after another bout of anxiety but I loved working with the elderly and looking after them, I met some wonderful residents and still think of them now. There was one lady we will call her Rose, Rose was around 90 she barley talked, She had a wonderful smile :) I worked Xmas eve one year so Xmas day I went to get her dressed and once she was dressed it was time to give her her gifts. She had one shoe box size box beautifully wrapped and inside lots of gifts from boyes and a lovely card from them, along with a cheque for a 100 pounds! Apparently she gets this gift every year for a thank you of 50 year service at boyes. She never had children and she started working at boyes when she was 14. We talked that morning for along time about her working life and she never stopped smiling :)

feeling a little better today, we went to boyes first thing and took Ash for a walk too, back home now trying to get warm.

love c x x x