{{Short description|Former department store in Southend}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}} {{Use British English|date=August 2015}} thumb|Former Brightwells Store in 2012
'''Brightwells''' was a department store in Southend-on-Sea, England. The store was founded by John Rumbelow Brightwell and opened on the city's High Street in the 19th century as a drapery.<ref>1874 Post Office Directory of Essex</ref> This became a department store which was incorporated in 1909 as J.R. Brightwell Ltd.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |url=https://secureweb1.essexcc.gov.uk/SeaxPAM/ViewCatalogue.aspx?ID=837976 |title=Seax - Browse Catalogue D/DGS B268-286 |access-date=23 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305132640/https://secureweb1.essexcc.gov.uk/SeaxPAM/ViewCatalogue.aspx?ID=837976 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Its direct competitors were Keddies, J F Dixons and Thomas Brothers.<ref>{{cite book|title=Southend Memories|author=Dee Gordon|date=2006|isbn=9780750953283}}</ref>
John Brightwell had been an alderman of the county borough of Southend-on-Sea and twice the Mayor of Southend.<ref name="auto"/> The business was sold to Percy & Francis Barnes in 1925.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite book|title=THE DIRECTORY OF DIRECTORS|page=84|date=1927}}</ref> A year later John Brightwell died, at the age of 78.<ref>{{cite periodical|title=Obituary|periodical=Justice of the Peace|volume=90|date=1926|page=9}}</ref>
The store closed in the late 1970s and the building, which had 12,200 square foot of space over four floors, was purchased for £250,000 by Ketts Electrical in 1979.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Purchases|journal=The Estate Gazette|volume=251|page=1194|date=1979}}</ref> Ketts Electrical closed in the 1980s after it was purchased by Rumbelows. The Store remained empty in 1980s, however a gym opened on the 2nd floor.
The store was home to the British Heart Foundation until 2015, when both the gym and store were vacated to make way for an apartment development called the Drapery, named in reference to Brightwells.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/14125005.60_new_flats_above_Southend_High_Street_shops/|title=60 new flats above High Street shops - Evening Echo p.5/12/2015|accessdate=12 September 2015}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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Category:Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Category:Department stores in Southend-on-Sea (town) Category:Buildings and structures in Southend-on-Sea Category:Department store buildings in the United Kingdom Category:Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Category:Companies based in Southend-on-Sea
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