- Derry & Toms
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Derry & Toms Type Private/ceased trading 1971 Industry Retail Genre Department Store Founded 1860 Founder(s) Joseph Toms, Charles Derry Headquarters Kensington High Street, London, England Owner(s) John Barker & Co 
The "Derry & Toms" building as it appears today
Derry & Toms was a London department store.
The company dates back to the 1860s, when Joseph Toms, a store proprietor joined forces with his brother-in-law, Charles Derry. In 1920 John Barker & Co acquired Derry & Toms.
In 1932, the store moved to large seven story building on Kensington High Street, the building was designed in an Art Deco style popular at the time by Bernard George and featured metalwork by Walter Gilbert, the store's building is most famous for its Kensington Roof Gardens, which still remains today. The main restaurant was on the fifth floor and was called "The Rainbow Room". It became a venue for thousands of "Dinner & Dances" (banquets) for both private firms and government departments from the 1950s until the entire store changed hands.
The company closed in the early 1970s, when it was bought by Biba,[1] which remained there for only a few years. The location is now a Marks and Spencers.
References
External links
- London's Lost Department Store
- Detailed history of Roof Gardens
- Detailed history of store construction
- Antique posters of the store
Coordinates: 51°30′04″N 0°11′32″W / 51.5012°N 0.1921°W
Categories:- Art Deco buildings in London
- Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom
- Shops in London
- Buildings and structures in Kensington and Chelsea
- House of Fraser
- London stubs
- Retail company stubs
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