 | |
 Lillywhites at Regent Street, London, pictured in 2015 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | |
Number of locations | 1 (Piccadilly Circus,London) |
| Products | Clothing,sports equipment |
| Parent | Sports Direct |
| Website | lillywhites.com |
Lillywhites is asports retailer based atPiccadilly Circus,London, United Kingdom. It is a division ofFrasers Group.[1]
In the 19th century, several members of the Lillywhite family were leading cricketers; another,Fred Lillywhite, organised the first overseas tour by an England team to North America in 1859. In 1866, the Lillywhite "No. 5" football was chosen for a London v. Sheffield challenge match organised byThe Football Association; the same model in the early years of theFA Cup and was the ancestor of theInternational Football Association Board'smodern ball specifications.[2] In 1886, theIntercollegiate Football Association chose the Lillywhite "No. J" as the standard forAmerican college footballs.[3]
The shop has been based at its current location of 25 Regent St. onPiccadilly Circus since 1925, catering to the London market with specialist departments forcroquet andreal tennis. In 1930, Messrs Lillywhite Ltd. supplied pilotAmy Johnson with her flying kit.[4] Lillywhites' policy was to compete on quality products (which were charged at premium prices). For many years the company was owned byForte Group. Until 2002, Lillywhites also had locations in other major cities in the United Kingdom includingLeeds,Newcastle upon Tyne andNottingham, with the Leeds store being a large five-storey building that opened in 1996 onThe Headrow in the formerSchofields department store. In the same year, Lillywhites was bought by the Portuguese companyJerónimo Martins. Lillywhites lost itsroyal warrant in 2003.[citation needed]
In the face of competition from other retailers offering more goods at lower prices, Lillywhites fell into financial difficulty. In 2002 Jerónimo Martins sold the company toSports World International, the owner of theSports World retail chain, and some of the outlying stores were rebranded as Sports World. A number of exceptions to this are the branches at Rotherham Retail Park,Lakeside Shopping Centre inWest Thurrock,Essex,Dalton Park,Murton andClarks Village, Street,Whiteley and The Glades, Bromley. The store inLeeds city centre was closed in 2004. The Lakeside branch was closed in 2010 and The Glades, Bromley store was closed in 2012.[citation needed]
51°30′34″N0°08′03″W / 51.509455°N 0.134263°W /51.509455; -0.134263
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