Dillons Booksellers
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and TN Retail
Dillons was a bookshop and subsequently a bookselling chain, based in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, which traded between 1932 and 1999.
Founded by Una Dillon (1903–1993) in 1932, Dillons was for most of its history most closely associated with its signature building on Gower Street
Gower Street (London)
Gower Street is a street in Bloomsbury, Central London, England, running between Euston Road to the north and Montague Place to the south.North Gower Street is a separate street running north of the Euston Road...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, near University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, which Dillon bought out from a previously failing bookseller in 1936. She subsequently sold the company to the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
in 1956.
Back in private hands by the mid-1980s, the store undertook a major makeover and modernisation, announcing its relaunch with the cheeky advertising poster "Foyled again? Try Dillons" – displayed prominently on the bus shelter opposite its London rival Foyles
Foyles
W & G Foyle Ltd. is a bookshop at 113–119 Charing Cross Road, London, England. Foyles was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest bookshop in terms of shelf area and number of titles on display...
.
Inspired by the success of Waterstone's
Waterstone's
Waterstone's is a British book specialist established in 1982 by Tim Waterstone that employs around 4,500 staff throughout the United Kingdom and Europe....
, demonstrating the potential for large modern bookshops with a depth of stock, the new owners rapidly rolled out the format across the country, ultimately building up a chain of 75 stores. However the holding group Pentos PLC had overreached itself financially, and in 1995 the Dillons business was acquired by HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
.
In 1998 HMV also acquired the larger Waterstone's chain, and the next year the Dillons brand ceased to exist as a separate entity. The majority of branches were rebranded as Waterstone's, while a remainder were sold on to the smaller chain Ottakar's
Ottakar's
Ottakar's was a chain of bookshops in the United Kingdom founded in 1987 by James Heneage. Following a takeover by the HMV Group plc in 2006, the chain was merged into the Waterstone's brand.-History:...
, which itself was later taken over by Waterstone's in 2006.