If you mention the word ‘Booths’ anywhere south of Knutsford, you will usually be met with a blank expression, followed by someone wondering if you are mispronouncing the name of a nearby pharmacy. But in the north-west the name is associated with a store native to Lancashire, which, uncharacteristically for a supermarket chain, holds a fond place in many people’s hearts.
For those not aware of the Booths chain, it is often called the north’s answer to Waitrose. I think the comparison is a tad unflattering to Booths; while Waitrose has rapidly commercialised, Booths has retained its local roots and independent character. It has far fewer stores than other chains and is still very much a family business: the current chairman is Edwin J. Booth, great-great-grandson of the store’s founder.
The first shop was created in Blackpool in 1847 when Edwin Henry Booth, aged 19, borrowed £80 worth of goods from his former employer to open the China House, which specialised in tea.
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