Lawsons celebrates 110 years of trading

Lawsons, the family run independent retailer since 1904, will be celebrating their 110th anniversary of trading on Saturday 10 May. 

There will be a ceremonial re-opening of the shops in Plymouth, Ivybridge, Tavistock and Totnes on the day and a special prize draw for customers.

The late Frances Thomas Butterfield Lawson (known as Tom) established the company in 1904 when he opened the first Lawsons shop on Frankfort Street, Plymouth.  Here the shop began selling tools to the Dockyard and apprentice craftsmen along with Ironmongery and Cutlery.

It then expanded into Hornby & Meccano and actually had a visit from Mr Hornby in the 1930’s. In March 1941 it was completely destroyed during the blitz.  Lawsons continued to trade on Compton Street, until that too was bombed.   When Plymouth City Centre was re-built Lawsons moved into 71 New George Street where they stayed for over 50 years.  During this time the store expanded into toys, kitchenware and cake decorating. 

Since then three new Lawsons stores have been opened, Totnes in 1979, Tavistock in 1992 and in 2006 Lawsons bought an existing hardware business in the centre of Ivybridge. In 2000 Lawsons started trading online and continue to expand this side of the business today.

The current managing director, Liz Lawson, is the great granddaughter of the founder. “Lawsons have so many events for customers to look forward to this year. We are excited about our first celebration day on the Saturday 10 May and we are delighted to continue with our sponsorship of Plymouth Flavour Fest in August. Lawsons are grateful to all our customers who continue to support us and I thank the staff who make Lawsons what it is today.”

Stefan Krause, Plymouth City Centre Manager said: “We would like to congratulate Lawsons on this fantastic milestone.  The Plymouth City Centre Company look forward to working with them in the future.”