David Lewis founded a small shop selling men’s and boy’s clothing in 1856. The sale of women’s clothes began in 1864, and by the 1870s Lewis’s Department Store was in full swing. There were sections for shoes and tobacco in addition to clothing. Branches were opened in other cities, beginning with Manchester in 1877. Birmingham, Sheffield and Leicester followed soon after. The building burnt down in the infamous fire of 1886, and was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Nevertheless, it was rebuilt each time, and was refurbished in 1957. This version included the statue ‘Liverpool Resurgent’, symbolising the city’s renewed vigour following the horrors of the recent conflict. Lewis’s Department Store – the fifth floor The fifth floor of Lewis’s has taken on an almost mythical status. In the store’s heyday, the 1950s, the fifth floor was the place to dine in the self-service cafeteria or the Red Rose restaurant. You could also get your hair done in the salon. A large mural decorated the walls, but this and the other features were hidden from the public in the 1980s. The floor was closed, and remained so until 2010 when it became the focus of an exhibition at the National Conservation Centre. Gerald de Courcy Fraser designed the building in 1947 while, Fraser, Sons and Geary carried out construction. It is built from a steel frame with a Portland stone façade. There are several classical influences in the building. Red granite columns are topped with Ionic capitals, while the columns on the fourth floor are Tuscan in style. A two-storey colonnade above the corner entrance have Doric-style half columns. Liverpool Resurgent The statue Liverpool Resurgent is accompanied by relief panels depicting scenes of childhood. The figures in the panels are modelled on the sculptor Jacob Epstein’s own children and grandchildren. These represent the younger generation which Liverpool was being rebuilt for.
