Jenners

A grand view of the upper level of Jenners department store from Princes Street Gardens.

Jenners has enjoyed its position on Edinburgh's Princes Street since 1838. Founded by Charles Jenner and Charles Kennington and known as "Kennington & Jenner" the store was run for many years by the Douglas-Miller family, who were descendants of James Kennedy, who took charge of Jenners in 1881.

The original buildings that formed the department store were destroyed by fire in 1892, and in 1893 the Scottish architect William Hamilton Beattie was appointed to design the new store which subsequently opened in 1895. This new building is designated as a category A listed building and it is noted by the statutory listing that, at Charles Jenner's insistence, the building's caryatids were intended 'to show symbolically that women are the support of the house'. The new store included many technical innovations such as electric lighting and hydraulic lifts. Known as the "Harrods of the North", Jenners has held a Royal Warrant since 1911.

In 2004 it changed its vision statement from its goal to "be the most exciting department store outside of London" to "Confidently Independent". The store made national news in 2007 when it publicised that it would stop selling pate de foie gras, following a boycott by the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton.

In March 2005 it was announced that the Douglas-Miller family were in advanced negotiations to sell the business to the House of Fraser, at an estimated £100-200 million but a month later it was sold for £46.1 million. While other acquisitions by House of Fraser have been renamed, Jenners has managed to keep its identity but sadly not its unique style that we all remember from pre acquisition days.