Simpsons of Piccadilly

Simpsons of Piccadilly was a large retail shop which traded at 203-206 Piccadilly in central London, England, and was built as a quality clothing store for men in 1935–36. Opening for business in April 1936, the store was called 'Simpson' (Piccadilly), but was commonly known as Simpsons or Simpsons of Piccadilly in the same way that J Sainsbury stores became known as Sainsbury's. The architect of this multiple-floor Modernism building was Joseph Emberton, and Simpson's was the first shop in Britain to have an uninterrupted curved-glass frontage. This new style was made possible by arc-welding a wide-span steel frame, rather than earlier techniques which involved using bulky bolted joints. The interior was designed with rooms conforming...