History
No.23 Market Place
Over the years, many shops and businesses have occupied the unit at No.23 Market Place. Mirroring the proud history of The Arcade as a whole, the various proprietors of the premises have adapted to accommodate the ever-changing tastes and needs of local residents.
In the late 1890s, three narrow adjoining shops in Market Place were partially demolished to make way for the southern entrance to The Arcade (the current internal layout of the Market Place façade buildings suggests that some of the original structure was retained). The shop on the left of the group of three, which stood where No.23 now stands, was ‘Hampshire’s Exchange and Mart’. What happened to the business following partial demolition of this shop is unknown. The shop in the centre of the group of three, ‘Dawson’s Lithographers, Printers and Stationers’ moved to the northern end of the opposite side of The Arcade following demolition (as the original shop occupied the space later occupied by the southern entrance archway, the demolition of this building was more comprehensive). The shop on the right of the group of three, ‘Ballance’s Florist’, held its position in much the same location following partial demolition, taking up residency in the new premises at No.25 Market Place.
The first shop to be established at No.23 Market Place following the opening of The Arcade in 1899 was Jubb’s Tailors. John Jubb was a well-known local businessman and described himself as a ‘clothier’. The giant JUBB’S advertising lettering that blocked the view from the first-floor window of No.23 was much-photographed at the time and can be seen in many of the postcards of Market Place from the era. The window display at Jubb’s boasted of the ‘Enticing Value’ that the shop offered. Jubb must have been a real patriot, as the royal insignia of George V can often be seen in contemporary photos of the shop front.
One such photo, taken from inside The Arcade, shows a very well-stocked side window. Jubb’s were famed for their white detachable collars, which they sold at sixpence ha’penny each or three for one and six (one for six and a half pence or three for eighteen pence in modern language). As can be seen from this photo, Jubb’s were ‘Also at the Top End’ of The Arcade, having a second store at the other end of the same side of The Arcade.
Jubb’s Tailor’s vacated the shop at No.23 Market Place in 1925, the building then becoming part of the growing Johnson & Balmford empire of shops. Better known as J&B’s, this well-known department store had previously been located solely on the ‘Busy Corner’ between Market Place and Foundry Street. However, J&B’s took over at No.23 so as to establish a separate ‘Fancy Department’, selling robes, blouses, furs, umbrellas and ladies’ underwear. The first-floor windows remained partially covered though, the familiar J&B’s lettering taking the place of that of its much-missed predecessor.
Having been vacated by J&B’s, the premises at No.23 was for a short period the home of the YEB – the Yorkshire Electricity Board. In the early 1950s, however, the shop was taken on by ‘Beaumont and Blackburn Electricals’. Having previously been J&B’s, the shop then became known at B&B’s, as can be seen from the sign above the shop which features in a well-known photo.
B&B’s was mainly an electrical contractors business, though they retained a shop on this site for a number of decades. The shop sold white goods and small electricals, but also did repairs and installations. The shop was established by Teddy Blackburn not long after the death of his former business partner Mr Beaumont. Interestingly, four-year-old Teddy was the first ever customer in the Dewsbury branch of Marks and Spencer, buying a monkey on a stick for a penny. He returned to M&S at the age of 79, as a special guest at the celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of the shop’s establishment in the town.
Following the closure of B&Bs, the last few decades of the first 100 years or so of No.23’s rich history saw a variety of different businesses take up residence in the building. One such business was ‘Geoffrey Davis’ fashions. Many local residents indulged their youthful fashion sense here in the dying years of the C20th. Later still, and reflecting the huge changes that the premises had witnessed over its first century and more, it became a ‘One Hour Photo’ shop.