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Beatties
Type	Subsidiary of House of Fraser
Genre	Department store
Founded	Wolverhampton (1877)
Headquarters	Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England
Industry	Retail
Products	Clothing, cosmetics, housewares
Website	Beatties (archived version); House of Fraser

For the defunct model retailer, see Beatties of London.

Beatties is a British department store group with 8 stores located primarily in the Midlands of England. In 2005 James Beattie was acquired by House of Fraser, then having 12 stores. On (14 January 2006), the Birmingham store closed, due to the uneconomical aspects of having two similar House of Fraser owned stores competing with each other. In August 2007, the Telford store was rebranded, along with the Solihull and Sutton Coldfield stores.^[1] The group is gradually rebranding all its stores under the House of Fraser umbrella.

[edit] History

The first Beatties store in Wolverhampton.

Beatties was founded in 1877 and had grown from a small family drapery business in Wolverhampton to a department store with an excellent reputation for Customer Service. The Company Policy (known as the Four Corners of Responsibility)stated that the responsibility to the customer was

"To provide the customer with a good range of well chosen, good value merchandise. To offer this to the public in attractive surroundings, backed by pleasant and effective service, and in an atmosphere of complete integrity and responsibility. To demonstrate at all times a genuine desire to please".

On joining Beatties, each member of staff (known as a "Member") was presented with a "Members' Guide" to provide members with information about the company and its policies, the condition of service offered, the facilities available and the rules to be followed.

[edit] Staff Structure

Members' Guide books issued to staff on joining Beatties.

General Manager (GM), Assistant General Manager (AGM), Personnel Manager (PM), Department Sales Manager (DSM), Assistant Sales Manager (ASM), Loss Prevention Officer (Plain Clothes Security), Sales Assistants, Deck Service Personnel (Warehouse and Delivery), Catering Personnel (for Staff and Customer Restaurant)

Managers at Department level and above were known as Grade 1 members. Managers at Assistant Manager level were known as Grade 2 members.

As well as Beatties own staff the store also employed concession managers and staff. The majority of these were in Perfumery and Ladies fashions but there were also a number of Jewellery concessions.