page_title: Barratts Shoes
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Barratts Shoes / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Barratts Boot and Shoe factory, Northampton, designed by John Macvicar Anderson, and opened in 1911.
context_page_description: Barratts was a brand of high street shoe shops operating in the UK and Ireland. The Barratts shoes brand traded from 100 UK and Ireland stores.
  The company was established in Northampton in 1903, and became a highly successful brand known for its lavishly produced boot catalogues during the 1920s. In 1964, it was bought by the company Stylo and, under the Barratts brand name, expanded to over 400 stores at its height, before foreign competition in the 1990s reduced its market share.
  Barratts entered administration for the third time in five years on 11 November 2013.
  Stylo Matchmakers
  The Stylo Matchmakers boot brand was one of the biggest in the 1970s. Pele, George Best and full teams from Liverpool, Leeds United, Celtic, Sunderland, Sheffield United, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest wore the Stylo Matchmakers boots.
  In May 2017 Stylo Matchmakers were rebooted by British Entrepreneur Scott Michaels. Stylo Matchmakers were launched into clubs, academies and schools exclusively. In 2018 Northern Ireland Footballer Kyle Lafferty became the Brands ambassador.
context_section_description: W Barratt Boot and Shoe Company was established in 1903 by William Barratt, and soon became one of the leading shoe manufacturers in Northampton. In 1913 it moved into a neo-Baroque factory designed by John Macvicar Anderson. The Barratts brand entered a new era of prosperity in the 1920s with the publication of luxurious promotional catalogues, including specially commissioned artwork and decorative pages. The 1923 catalogue featured an endorsement by the famed couturier Lady Duff Gordon, who also contributed an illustrated introduction to the women's section of this edition. The firm continued to flourish into the mid-20th century under the advertising slogan "Walk the Barratt Way".
  Stylo was a family run business which originated in 1935, with the consolidation of three separate companies the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange under the trade name Stylo Boot Company (Northern) Ltd. Having grown to 150 outlets, in 1964 Stylo bought W Barratt and Company, and merged the two businesses in Bradford.
  Developing under the better known Barratts brand, the company developed to over 400 retail outlets. In the 1996 Barratts purchased Bacons Shoes, ran. The Bacon family in the West Midlands. Bacon's shoes brand was phased out by the Managing Director, Ron Arthur Stark, from 1997 and converted the Bacons stores to Priceless. The first Priceless store conversion was in Sunderland, from a Hush Puppies store and was an instant success, selling self service shoes. The Shoe and Sport Depot brand, ran by Peter Peregrine Lee were converted to Priceless brand, originally created by Ron Arthur Stark. The Priceless brand was fully operational by 1999. Based in Apperley Bridge, Bradford, West Yorkshire, the new company operated over 300 UK and Ireland concessions across the Arcadia Group, including within Dorothy Perkins, as well as supporting the Group's online activity. Barratts also had an online presence with the retailer Wallis.
  On 13 February 2008, Stylo purchased 24 stores from collapsed shoe retailer Dolcis as well as the Dolcis brand name. The shops were rebranded as Barratts.
caption: The Barratt Boot and Shoe factory in Kingsthorpe Road, Northampton. A 1911 piece of neo-baroque architecture designed by John Macvicar Anderson
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