Page 123 - The_story_of_the_C._W._S._The_jubilee_history_of_the_cooperative_wholesale_society,_limited._1863-1913_(IA_storyofcwsjubill00redf) (1)_Neat

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Housed at Leman Street.
" solemn responsibility " of being "
trustees for the savings of the
poor," and the " fierce and reckless competition against which this
building will be a protest." Eighteen months later, on Wednesday.
January 12th, 1881, the new warehouse was formally opened by
J. T. W. Mitchell " amidst the ringing cheers " of two hundred
buyers and representatives. The programme of this festal day
included an exhibition of co-operative productions, a lunciieon,
storekeepers' conference, and tea.
With the new facilities the boot trade of the branch, aheady
considerable, was developed, and the drapery and furnishing trades
were entered. The policy of the Branch Committee in 1880 was that
of " gradually teaching the societies how to extend from one trade
to another, and, while so extending the co-operative system, to
extend the trade of the Wholesale." The huge extension of the
store movement in the South since then, and the remarkable
growth of the branch during the same time, evidence a thorough
carrying out of the policy both in letter and spirit.

The C.W.S. London Branch Premises in 1881
Hooper Square and Rupert Street, E.

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