6 photos which tell story of great Glasgow department store Lewis's

Glasgow Times

29-04-2025

TV presenter Lorraine Kelly's daughter Rosie, who recently had a baby, revealed she had been discussing the famous department store with her gran.
'Visited great-granny this weekend and she showed me the receipt for the essentials she bought when my mum was born in 1959,' she posted on social media, with a picture of the receipt.
(Image: Instagram)
Among other items, it shows a Moses basket for £3 and 18 shillings; a mattress for 15 shillings and 11 pence; and a pillow for 5 shillings and sixpence.
(Today, a Moses basket from a Glasgow department store could set you back £119, with mattresses and pillows costing from around £12 each…)
The famous Argyle Street store, which towered over the city centre, is much-missed. Famous for its fabulous Christmas window displays, its popular food hall, and for having the city's first 'moving stairs' – escalator – it opened its doors in 1929 and closed in the 1990s.
We took a trawl through the archives and found some fantastic photographs which tell its story over the decades.
Sophia Loren visited Lewis's department store in December 1982. The Hollywood actor – pictured here looking out of her hotel room window in the Albany, was promoting her perfume, Sophia, by Coty.
(Image: Newsquest)
Former head chef at the store's restaurant Peter Toher, once told the Glasgow Times: 'The general manager, Mr McKillop, donned full Highland dress to meet Ms Loren at the entrance of the shop. Her visit was brief and she had lots of bodyguards with her. She did a short promotion in the perfumery department then went to the boardroom."
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He added: 'I had prepared what used to be called hors d'oeuvres - now they are known as canapés – for her to eat. It was all very quick afterwards, the general manager changed back into his suit. When Mr McKillop went to take his hired Highland outfit back to the store, it had gone – it seemed Sophia thought it had been a gift and taken it with her..'
A week before Sophia's visit, this newspaper ran a competition for readers to win the chance to have lunch with her at the Albany Hotel.
'It's the stuff dreams are made of,' the report said. 'People will call you a storyteller because who is going to believe you had lunch with Sophia Loren?'
(Image: Newsquest)
At Christmas time, Lewis's had 14 window displays full of toys, and passers-by would stop in awe to admire the extravagant festive displays.
(Image: Newsquest)
After a hard morning's bargain-hunting, these shoppers sit down for a much-needed cup of tea and a snack in Lewis's restaurant.
(Image: Newsquest)
All the best-dressed men headed to the gent's outfitters department of Lewis's, like this dapper shopper in 1956.
(Image: Newsquest)
There was a great view from the roof of Lewis's, and it was also the perfect sun-trap - as these office workers from the 1950s can attest.
Send us your great Glasgow department store memories.
Email [e-mail] or write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG.