A brief History of Dorothy Perkins.
1909 – The company was first incorporated as H.P Newman Limited.
1919 – The company changed its trading name to ‘Dorothy Perkins’. The name is taken from a type of rose and was suggested by the wife of one of the company directors director. Dorothy Perkins was operating out of 12 shops.
1939 – The company now had 75 shops, another name change this time to ‘Dorothy Perkins Limited’.
1966 – This year saw the opening of the 250th Dorothy Perkins shop. Cash registers were also introduced into all stores.
1977 – Dorothy Perkins opened its first store on Oxford Street, London.
1979 – Now standing at 242 stores Dorothy Perkins shops were taken over by The Burton Group.
1987 – The ‘Secrets’ lingerie and nightwear range was launched.
1988 – Dorothy Perkins introduced its own Account Card offering easier payments and incentives.
1993 – The Dorothy Perkins ‘Maternity’ range was launched into selected stores.
1994 – Helena Christensen was chosen as the face of Dorothy Perkins and a massive advertising campaign was launched nationwide.
1997 – Yasmin Le Bon became the new face of Dorothy Perkins.
1998 – Burton Group Plc became Arcadia Group Plc. The ‘petite’ range was introduced aimed at women under 5ft 3in and in sizes 6-18.
1999 – The Dorothy Perkins online shopping facility was launched at www.dorothyperkins.com, making the brand even more accessible.
2001 – A ‘tall’ range was launched for women 5ft 8in and over.
2002 – Philip Green, owner of Bhs purchased the Arcadia Group Plc.
2003 – The Dorothy Perkins 15,000ft flagship store opened on London’s Oxford Street (at Bond Street tube station).
2007 – Today Dorothy Perkins has over 600 stores in the United Kingdom and 52 international outlets in countries including Spain, Gibraltar, Cyprus, Turkey and Singapore.
Browse the Dorothy Perkins Collection
