Joplings was a department store, located in Sunderland, England, which was part of the former Vergo Retail Ltd. group of department stores.
History
The store was established in 1804 by James Jopling and soon he went into partnership with Joseph Tuer. In 1891 the business was bought by Hedley, Swan & Co as a drapery, clothing and furniture warehouse. Hedley, Swan & Co changed the name from Joplings and Truer, even though locals still called it Joplings. Hedley, Swan & Co bought rival department store J T Calvert and moved the store to the new site at 126-129 High Street West where they started using the Joplings name.
On 7 May 2010, Vergo was placed into administration, with MCR appointed as the administrators. On 11 May 2010, it was announced that there would be ten store closures, including Joplings, within the next four weeks unless a buyer was found. A final closure date of Saturday 19 June 2010 has now been set.
In September 2017, planning permission was granted for the building to be turned into a purpose built student accommodation. Groovy Students Student Accommodation renovated the entire building to create 114 rooms for students and 4 commercial units on the ground floor. Spokesman Steven Kwan from 5 Star PR Marketing, a PR Marketing agency in Newcastle said "Joplings is a Sunderland institution which goes back decades and it was such a shame when it went into administration in 2010. "It would be such a shame for all that history to be lost, but we’ve managed to keep some of it, such as with the name. The public reaction to the site is so strong that the name Jopling House was a no brainer for us so that we could carry that legacy on."
On 2 January 2019, Joplings Department store opened its doors for the first time in 9 years as Jopling House.
External links
- Vergo Retail - Joplings Homepage
- [https://www.sunderlandecho.com/our-region/sunderland/first-look-around-sunderland-s-iconic-joplings-site-as-it-opens-its-doors-as-student-accommodation-1-9474325]