Barkers of Kensington
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| Location | Kensington High Street |
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| Coordinates | 51°30′07″N 0°11′26″W / 51.5019°N 0.1906°WCoordinates: 51°30′07″N 0°11′26″W / 51.5019°N 0.1906°W |
| Opening date | 1870 |
| Closing date | 2006 |
| Owner | 1870–1957 John Barker & Co. 1957–2006 House of Fraser |
Barkers of Kensington was a department store in Kensington High Street, Kensington, London. It was started by John Barker and James Whitehead, later Lord Mayor of London, in 1870. It was sold to House of Fraser in 1957 and was closed in 2006. The building now contains a branch of Whole Foods Market.
In 1870 John Barker and James Whitehead got together to open a small drapery business at 91–93 Kensington High Street. James Whitehead (a city merchant) was the investor, while John Barker ran the store. John Barker's plan was to start small and grow his business to a full line department store. He started by dealing direct with manufacturers to get the best price, and with the profits made he started buying up freeholds and leases of nearby properties. By the end of 1870 he had annexed 26–28 Ball Street, setting up millinery and dressmaking departments. By 1871, he had purchased 87 Kensington High Street and opened a men's tailoring and children's department. Within a year he had again grown by buying his neighbours' businesses at 89 Kensington High Street and 26 Ball Street. By 1880, he had extended his stores at 87–89 Kensington High Street and had bought an ironmongery business at 14–16 Ball Street and added 75–77 Kensington High Street and 12 Ball Street to his premises. By 1892, the business had swallowed up 63-71 Kensington High Street, 2–6 Young Street and 6 Ball Street and now operated over forty two departments and workshops.
In 1894, the business was incorporated with John Barker as the chairman of the board, joined by his brothers Francis & HH Johnstone, along with Tresham Gilbey (his son-in-law) and J G Barnes, the former manager of the Kensington branch of Parr's Banking Co. In the same year the business bought Seaman & Little, a store which had divided up the Barker premises. The company at this point had 33 shops, including sixteen fronting onto Kensington High Street. By this time the business had grown to 64 departments selling everything from clothes to groceries. It even had its own drug-dispensing department.
By 1895 the company had purchased every property of Kensington High Street between King Street & Young Street, except for 73 and 85, which they later acquire in 1900, and had added jewellery, watch, and bicycle departments to its ever-growing lines. In 1907 Barkers bought its near neighbour Pontings, but continued to run the store as a separate concern from the Barker store.
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