Freeman, Hardy and Willis

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Freeman, Hardy and Willis was a major chain of footwear retailers in the United Kingdom, now defunct.

The shoe retailer was originally established in 1875 and was named after three employees of the company. For many years, there was a branch in almost every town in the UK. The company was subsequently acquired by Charles Clore in his British Shoe Corporation empire based in Leicester which also comprised Trueform, Olympus Sport, Curtess, Dolcis, Manfield, Saxone and Lilley & Skinner.

In the early 1990s British Shoe by then part of the Sears Group converted around half of the 540 Freeman Hardy Willis branches in to Hush Puppies shops, and sold the remainder to Stephen Hinchliffe, an entrepreneur from Sheffield. Unfortunately, after only a year, Hinchliffe's business empire collapsed (he was subsequently jailed after it was found that he bribed bank officials to obtain loans to buy the company [1]. After providing 'Shoes For All The Family' since 1875, by 1996 Freeman Hardy Willis was no more.