Booths

If you mention the word ‘Booths’ anywhere south of Knutsford, you will usually be met with a blank expression, followed by someone wondering if you are mispronouncing the name of a nearby pharmacy. But in the north-west the name is associated with a store native to Lancashire, which, uncharacteristically for a supermarket chain, holds a fond place in many people’s hearts.

For those not aware of the Booths chain, it is often called the north’s answer to Waitrose. I think the comparison is a tad unflattering to Booths; while Waitrose has rapidly commercialised, Booths has retained its local roots and independent character. It has far fewer stores than other chains and is still very much a family business: the current chairman is Edwin J. Booth, great-great-grandson of the store’s founder.

The first shop was created in Blackpool in 1847 when Edwin Henry Booth, aged 19, borrowed £80 worth of goods from his former employer to open the China House, which specialised in tea. In the late 1800s, having turned a profit and under the steward-ship of Edwin’s son John, Booths expanded into Lytham and Blackburn. There are now 28 stores spread across the north-west, Cumbria and Yorkshire, but the brand has never ventured into the south of England.

My grandparents remember when the first store came to Garstang in the 1960s, built on the site of the seamstress’s old shop. It was the first supermarket to arrive in the small market town and its narrow aisles were packed to the rafters with both goods and people, making it almost impossible to reach the till on a busy Saturday. My mother fondly remembers walking in as a child and being hit by the heavy aroma of coffee as she crossed the threshold.