FEATURE
LOWE AND SONS FEATURE
Lowe & Sons Exterior
in order to widen the road, which
is when it moved into its current
building. “It’s been in Chester for
around 248 years now and it really
does have an amazing history,”
says Parry. “The people who have
walked through that door in the
41 years I have been there had
been equally incredible.”
The iconic jewellery store was
saved from closure after its lease
was bought by local competitor
Powell’s Fine Jewellery. Leonard
Prescott, store manager at
Powell’s, says the group “was
saddened to learn of its departure
from the Chester Rows”, and
“We have worked tirelessly to have the shop ready for a busy Christmas
adds that it has been “a pillar
of the jewellery and silverware
industry for almost 250 years
which drew many clients from
across the world to the city”.
Will Powell, who handles
operations at Powell’s, says: “We
finally signed the lease late on in
September”, and since then the
group has “worked tirelessly to
have the shop ready for the busy
Christmas period”.
Powell’s was originally opened
by Dave and Joan Powell, who
started the business with only
£1,000 in the late 1960s. Their
first shop was located in the old
‘‘
The iconic
jewellery store
was saved from
closure after
its lease was
bought by local
competitor
Powell’s Fine
Jewellery
‘‘
Lowe & Sons Interior
24 JEWELLERY FOCUS
bank buildings on Water Street
in the seaside town Rhyl, North
Wales. In the 1970s they moved
from Rhyl to open a shop in
Prestatyn a seaside town just
down the coast. They then had
the help of their son, Greg Powell,
who started as apprentice on the
bench back in the 1970s, and
came into the family business
when he was 16. Greg and his
son Will eventually purchased its
current Chester business in 2017.
Prescott notes that as “a family
of jewellers ourselves”, they
didn’t want to see the “beautiful
Victorian showroom lost to both
the industry and the public in
general”. The group was able to
recruit several members of the
original team, including Parry,
who managed the store for many
years before its closure and is
considered “something of a
local celebrity in the antique and
silverware scene”.
Prescott
adds:
“Working
tirelessly we have been striving to
save this unique piece of Chester’s
history and bring it back to the
high standards and traditions
that made Lowe’s a destination
for so many customers over its
long and illustrious lifetime. With
Parry’s help and input we have
been searching far and wide to
December 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk