A day out to discover the past

A Booths exhibition will give an insight into the history of the Booths family and the wider social history of the region.

Booths – A Family in Business - follows 160 years of Booths business through family correspondence, 
photographs and other personal objects from the family archive that show the development of a successful business built through generations of the same family.

It will be on display in The Fylde Gallery at Lytham from November 30 until February 2 2014 – and will include a remarkable series of correspondence written 
during the courtship of Edwin and his future wife, Susannah.

The letters shine a light on how the business and its operation were entwined with his family life and the development and growth of his children.

The correspondence also emphasises the importance of sourcing high quality goods from across the globe – from visits to China and Ceylon and holidays to France and the Mediterranean.

The items from the archive contain formal business records but also some of the very human stories behind the name Booth.

Since June 1847, five generations of the Booth family have led Booths from modest beginnings, with just one small shop in Blackpool, to the present day where the company operates 29 food, wine and grocery stores across Lancashire, Cumbria, 
Yorkshire and Cheshire.

Edwin Booth, chairman of Booths, said: “It is an honour to be able to share our history with the local community.

“Grocer’s shelves tell an interesting tale.

“What we cook, shop and eat is part of social history.

“I’m particularly proud of the heritage of Booths, and that history informs how we operate today.

“We still have one aim that was the inspiration of the first EH Booth, to sell the best goods he could buy in shops staffed with first class assistants.”

The exhibition is free and open to the general public.