Dorothy Perkins

History

Founded in 1909 under the name H. P. Newman, it changed its trading name to Dorothy Perkins in 1919. In the 1960s, Dorothy Perkins was controlled by the Farmer family, who used to own Winster Hosiery. Staff in the branches could expect regular visits from Alan Farmer, whose picture was printed in a booklet handed to new employees. Best known for its lingerie, tights, and sleepwear collections, its other clothes had a hard time competing with the more trendy Lewis Separates, now owned by River Island Clothing Company Ltd, and Peter Robinson.

One newspaper advertisement for management trainees asked: 'Will curls come in? Will maxis make it?' However, the stores never really got to grips with sixties boutique culture. Author Margret Geraghty who worked there for a while in the late sixties remembers that all the sales staff had to wear nylon uniforms: 'They were cerise with a zip up the front. Forget dolly birds. They looked more like canteen assistants.' There were also blue nylon ones with zips down the back and turtle neck with bow, which were exceptionally hard to zip up, and the assistants used to have to zip each other up. The exception was the store manageress, who was permitted to wear her own clothes.

The Arcadia Group, then doing business as the Burton Group, purchased Dorothy Perkins in 1979.

Store locations

Today

Dorothy Perkins product lines include Dresses, Jersey Tops, Knitwear, Coats, Tailoring, Denim, Shoes, Accessories, Jewellery, Lingerie, Maternity, Petite and Tall. Dorothy Perkins offer sizes 6−22 in most lines and have short, regular and long leg in most of their trousers. In shoes they offer UK sizes 3−8, and also 9 in some styles.

The company has an account card which offers incentive and reward schemes to customers, including vouchers for customers on their birthday and several 20% off VIP days per year. Credit is provided by NewDay (company).

Dorothy Perkins supports The Woodland Trust and have raised enough to plant nearly 100,000 trees since May 2007, through selling limited edition clothing ranges.

Its parent company Arcadia Group has a training programme, which offers financial incentives to employees to expand their responsibilities and knowledge of company and business affairs. The program has three levels: Standard Level, Advanced Level and Top Level.