Lewis & Cooper

The Northallerton store building dates back to the seventeenth century.^[6] In 1899, both George Henry Lewis and Binks Barton Cooper worked as managers at a high street grocery business in Northallerton.^[7] After the owner decided to sell the failing business, Lewis and Cooper executed a management buyout.^[8] The company was incorporated in January 1903. Cooper, a sleeping partner, sold his share of the business in 1914, but the Lewis & Cooper name remained.^[3] The company has sold hampers since 1936.^[9]

The customer base began to dwindle by the end of the 1970s, due to the rise of the supermarkets.^[10] In response, Lewis & Cooper began to reposition itself from a traditional grocers into a specialist upmarket food retailer.^[11]

In 1999, tea rooms were opened on the first floor of the Northallerton store, in what was formerly the manager's quarters.^[12] That same year, the store was featured on the newly released Yorkshire Monopoly board game.^[13] A smaller store opened in Yarm in 2001, which closed in June 2020.^[14] A Harrogate store opened in December 2011, but closed down in January 2013, following disappointing sales figures.^[15]

Lewis & Cooper carries specialist items not often stocked by the major supermarkets, such as Chatka crab, Russian caviar and quail eggs.^[16] The Northallerton store has 32,000 different product lines, versus the supermarket average of 5,000, located across 6,000 square feet.^[16][17] 25 per cent of the Northallerton store's stock is sourced from the Yorkshire area.^[18] Rhiannon Batten of The Independent described the store as "one of the UK's most famous food emporiums."^[19]