Knight & Lee
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| Knight & Lee | |
|---|---|
,_Palmerston_Road,_Southsea_(NHLE_Code_1474912)_(March_2019)_(2).JPG) | |
 Interactive map of Knight & Lee | |
| General information | |
| Type | department store |
| Location | Southsea, Hampshire, England |
| Coordinates | 50°47′06″N 1°05′18″W / 50.7850°N 1.0883°W |
Knight & Lee was a department store in Southsea, Hampshire, England. The store was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership in 1933 and became the only provincial department store in the group not to trade under the John Lewis & Partners name. The shop officially closed on 13 July 2019. The proceeds from the sale of the freehold would be used to bring down the group's pension fund deficit.
The store was originally a lace business operated by Mr William Wink in Queen Street, Portsmouth.[1] In 1857 William Wink died and his wife took over the business, listed at the time as 'lace manufacturer, milliner and dressmaker'. By 1865 Frederick Wink had taken over the business.[1]
Frederick moved the business to the more fashionable Palmerston Road in Southsea[1] in 1874. The business expanded with the purchase of further premises in Palmerston Road and increased its offering to become a department store.
In 1887 brothers-in-law Jesse Knight and Edward Herbert Soden Lee purchased the business.[2] They had previously worked for William Whiteley in Bayswater, and brought a Mr Brown with them as General Manager.[2] The business was greatly expanded by a novel boyswear department which was followed by a menswear department. In 1899 the business was incorporated.
In 1908 they purchased a former fishmonger's on the corner of Stanley Lane and Palmerston Road.[3] This was eventually joined by further purchases along Palmerston Road that joined the premises together, with the buildings being rebuilt in 1910. In 1922 Mr Knight died, with Mr Lee dying two years later. Mr Brown, who had joined the business from Whiteleys when Knight and Lee had started out, ran the store until the John Lewis Partnership bought the business in 1933.[4]