Russell & Bromley

History

Russell & Bromley began in 1873 when George Bromley, a shoemaker, married his employer Albion Russell's daughter Elizabeth in Lewes, East Sussex, England. Elizabeth's grandfather John Clifford Russell had established a shoemaking business in 1820. The family store in Eastbourne became the first to carry the Russell and Bromley name above the door in 1880.

In 1898 Frederick, George and Elizabeth's son, joined the business and opened a store in Tonbridge, Kent. He then founded an additional store in Sevenoaks, which started an expansion programme of opening additional stores and purchasing smaller independent retailers. In 1905 Frederick moved its operations from Eastbourne to Bromley in Kent.

In 1947 the brothers opened their first store on Bond Street in the West End of London, which saw the change of business focus to high end retailer. In 1968 this was completed by the closure of a quarter of the branches to concentrate on the higher end of the market. The company has since progressed from selling only footwear and now includes ladies handbags and men's belts as part of its range.

In 2022 it was announced that the business would open its first store outside the UK on Grafton Street in Dublin.

In 2025, Next plc and Modella Capital were shown to have an interest in the retailer, if the deal went ahead then Next would acquire the brand and website of the retailer while Modella would take over the stores and liquidate them, ending the retailer's more than 150 years of being in the high street. In January 2026, it was announced that Next had acquired Russell & Bromley through a pre-pack insolvency process. The transaction involved the purchase of the brand and selected assets, with administrators continuing to assess the future of the retailer’s remaining physical store estate, 3 stores (2 in London and 1 in Stone) were also acquired by Next, with Modella being appointed by administrator Interpath to liquidate the remaining stores.

In January 2026 Next has purchased the Russell & Bromley brand and property for £2.5 million.

References

References

1. Butler, Sarah. (6 January 2015). "Russell & Bromley pays out £11.2m to family owners after sales boom". [[The Guardian]].
2. (January 2021). "Russell & Bromley (Southport) to close in September 2014". OTS News.
3. (15 October 2015). "High Street Heroes: The Story of British Retail in 50 People". Icon Books.
4. (11 September 2003). "Tobey Bromley". [[The Times]].
5. (30 August 2003). "Tobey Bromley". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
6. (27 February 2022). "Russell & Bromley to step into Grafton Street".
7. Marlow, Ben. (2026-01-11). "Russell & Bromley at risk of disappearing from high street after 150 years". The Telegraph.
8. Burney, Chloe. (2026-01-21). "NEXT snaps up Russell & Bromley in rescue deal".
9. (2026-01-21). "Next acquires Russell & Bromley in pre-pack administration deal - Retail Gazette".
10. (2026-01-21). "Next buys Russell & Bromley, putting 33 stores and 440 jobs at risk".