Button It...

John Lewis haberdashery.

According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable it comes from the hawkers at fairs who would sell things like ribbons, buttons, etc, and is derived from the German question "Habt Ihr das?" (= "do you have that?")
Other sources say it comes from the medieval English "hapertas" for a cloth with a legally defined width.


Just love the John Lewis store in Cheadle.