Simpsons of Piccadilly

Simpsons of Piccadilly
Simpsons of Piccadilly, now the flagship store for Waterstones booksellers.
General information
Type	Retail Space
Location	Piccadilly London, United Kingdom
Design and construction
Architect	Joseph Emberton

Simpsons of Piccadilly is a large retail store situated at 203-206 Piccadilly in central London. It was created by Alexander Simpson and architect Joseph Emberton. When it opened in April 1936 it was the largest menswear store in Britain, and is now a Grade I listed building due to its innovative construction. Its original purpose was to house the entire range of clothing provided by the tailoring company S. Simpsons and DAKS. It was later purchased by the Waterstones chain of bookshops, and currently serves as their flagship store.

After the launch of the successful DAKS trousers in 1934 Alexander Simpson wanted a store in which to stock the entire S Simpson range in central London. Wanting a location near Savile Row so that the foreign visitors to that street could go to examine Simpson clothes nearby for its high quality ready-to-wear tailoring, in 1935 the site of the old Geological Museum in Piccadilly was to be sold on a 99-year building lease, which Simpson won at auction for £11,000. The site had a 71-foot frontage on both Piccadilly and on Jermyn Street (rear entrance) with a footprint of about 11,000 square feet and an easy walking distance from Savile Row.

Simpson’s aim was to build a large, modern menswear store to serve as a flagship for the S Simpson brand, with a steel structure, faced in Portland stone and to be built as high as permitted, and to compete with the store built for the rival Austin Reed ten years prior. Simpson contracted Joseph Emberton as the architect for this project, known for his modernity in architecture and for designing the interior of the Austin Reed store.