John Sanders

We are an independent department store with a history spanning over 100 years. Our longevity is due to the way we respond to the needs of our customers, our different product offering and our focus on serving our community. As members of A.I.S and Play-Room buying group, we pride ourselves on being able to source a great variety of different produc... ts that are high in quality and great in price. Our ground floor is home to Ladies Fashions and Accessories; Lingerie, Nightwear and Hosiery; Haberdashery and Wool and our Baby Shop with clothing, gifts and toys up to 36 months. Our First Floor houses our Linens, Homewares, Toys, Cards and Gift departments. John Sanders was born in Devonshire, in 1842, and grew up on a farm near the village of Pyworthy. At the age of 13, he left the home farm to become an apprentice draper to Mr Bickle who had a drapery store in St. Leonards on Sea. At the age of 23, ten years later, Mr Sanders decided to move to Ealing where he bought his first shop from a Mrs Elizabeth Henderson, the mother of Lord Farrington. This shop was situated in Ealing Broadway on the corner of the Uxbridge Road and Lancaster Road. Mr Sanders realised that the opening of the Great Western Railway 20 years earlier, had made the little village of Ealing more accessible to London and that in time it would be an important link between the city and the west. As time went on, Ealing soon began to rise from a country village to a populous suburb. The signs of development favourably affected Mr Sanders business and he started to be well-known as a hard working local entrepreneur. Originally a draper, Mr Sanders extended the business in a number of areas to include hosiery, millinery, furnishings and even family funeral services! By 1890, Mr Sanders had gradually acquired shop after shop adjacent to one another in Ealing Broadway and thus the department store John Sanders became a leading store in West London. John Sanders was a popular man in Ealing. He bought the first horseless car to the town and allowed the ...Read More