W Boyes & Co

For the community in the United States, see Boyes, Montana.

**W Boyes & Co Ltd**

Type	Private
Industry	Retail
Founded	1881
Headquarters	Eastfield, North Yorkshire, England
Number of locations	42 (November 2011)
Website	www.boyes.co.uk

Boyes is a chain of department stores in the UK. William Boyes founded the firm in 1881 and his sons, grandsons and great-grandchildren have carried on the business. It is still family owned today and has grown from one small shop in Scarborough, North Yorkshire to a chain of 42 stores throughout Yorkshire, and the north of England.

The stores stock a large range of products including clothing, toys, stationery, babywear, toiletries, housewares, DIY, fishing tackle, footwear, soft furnishings, wool, haberdashery, confectionery and pet products. Some larger stores have a carpet and furniture department.

Its full trading name is W Boyes and Co Ltd, however the stores trade as "Boyes". The company is based at its head office in Eastfield, near Scarborough.

The company's slogan is "for good value" and the stores offer reasonable prices, stocking a mixture of regular lines and one off special purchases and clearance lines.

History

In 1881 William Boyes opened a small store in Eastborough, Scarborough selling odd lots and remnants from merchants. There was great poverty in the working classes and housewives were even keener for a bargain than they are today. When customers found that they could buy enough material to make a coat or a dress cheaper than anywhere else, they soon spread the word and trade increased to such an extent that William had to look for larger premises.

William rented a large warehouse just off the main street where business continued to grow. By 1886 he purchased further units in Market Street and Queen Street and knocked them into one large store and named it 'The Remnant Warehouse'. Older customers in Scarborough still refer to the shop as 'The Rem'. As time went on William expanded his range and bought other clearance lines from merchants developing the warehouse into a department store.

Business continued to grow and go from strength to strength and in 1910 the expansion of the company started.