Rumbelows

infobox company
name = Rumbelows
type = Private
foundation = 1969

Rumbelows was an electrical retailer in the United Kingdom which once rivalled Currys, Dixons and Comet.

History

The company was set up as a chain of television and radio rental shops in the 1950s by Fred Dawes, taking his name as the brand name. In 1969, the business was sold to Radio Rentals (which had merged with Thorn EMI in 1968), with all the rental accounts transferring to Radio Rentals stores, and the 90 high street units became electrical retailers instead, becoming known as Rumbelows instead.

The former Rumbelows shop in Whitechapel, Liverpool was the heart of the NEMS Enterprises empire in the early 1960s, owned by the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein.

Demise

Thorn EMI, Rumbelows’ owner, decided to pull out of the electrical retail business in February 1995 because of heavy losses, closing all of the 285 Rumbelows stores and selling many of them to the German PC retailer Escom. Escom itself subsequently ceased trading in 1996 following financial difficulties.

In the 1980s, Martin Dawes (born c.1945), Fred's son, would carry on the family name in the electrical and electronic retailing sector, with his telecommunications business (mobile phones), which he sold in 1999 for £130m.

Notable advertising campaign

In the early 1990s an advert was created which consisting of a song telling the viewer that anyone shopping at Rumbelows would not 'Pay any more Mrs Moore', referring to paying more at another store if they did not come to Rumbelows. The commercial became popular in the UK for its use of computer-generated imagery and talking household goods.

Football sponsorship

For two seasons, from 1990 to 1992, Rumbelows were the title sponsor of the English Football League Cup, a professional association football competition.

External links

* [http://www.itnsource.com/en/Entire-Archive/Search/ShotListNonDigitised/?ref=/ITN/1995/02/07/T07029501.htm&links=RUMBELOW&thumb=/img/assets/no_preview_available.png&duration= Transcript of an ITN report from 1995 on Rumbelows demise]
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/joncombe/356739473/ Picture of a empty former branch of Rumbelows in 2007] Flickr.com