House of Fraser Victoria

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House of Fraser Victoria is a department store on Victoria Street in London, England. It is situated within the City of Westminster to the south of St. James's Park and is the only department store to trade in the locality.

The store is part of the House of Fraser group (the Head Offices of which are located above the department store) and traded under the Army & Navy name until 2005. Each of the four selling-floors holds a broad range of merchandise including clothing, accessories and cosmetics, furnishing, household and electrical goods. 'World of Food', a new food hall concept in House of Fraser stores (introduced at Birmingham in 2003), was opened on the Ground Floor to coincide with the store's relaunch under the 'House of Fraser' name.

[edit] History

The store began as a co-operative society, The Army & Navy Co-operative Society Limited, formed in 1871 by a group of army and navy officers. The intention was to supply 'articles of domestic consumption and general use to its members at the lowest remunerative rates'. The store opened on its present site on 15 February 1872 for the sale of groceries and expanded to include goods as diverse as drapery, drugs, fancy goods and guns. Based on the model of other middle-class co-operatives, such as Civil Service Supply Association (Strand, London, 1864), the society issued tickets to its members in exchange for annual subscription. Membership of 'The Stores' as it became known was open only to those in the higher ranks of the armed forces and the widows of officers as well as the representatives of regimental messes and canteens. In later years membership was expanded to a wider audience and tickets were issued free of charge after 1922. The benefits of membership included a dividend from the profits of the business, the entitlement to deal at the store and the free delivery of goods.