Goldbergs

A. Goldberg and Sons plc was a Scottish retail organisation which, prior to its demise in 1990, had grown from a single Glasgow store in 1908 to a chain of over 100 outlets.

At the Edinburgh store there was a cafe on the top floor with a roof garden.

History

A. Goldberg & Sons was founded in 1908 by Abraham Goldberg, a Jewish immigrant from Eastern Europe. After starting business on the South Side of Glasgow he moved to premises in Candleriggs in the 1920s.

Abraham Goldberg, was Chairman from 1908 to 1934, when he handed power to his two sons, Ephraim and Michael. Together they brought the company to the stock market and saw the development of the business from the one department store in Glasgow to the building, by in-house contractors, of the Edinburgh department store and the beginnings of a small department store chain in central Scotland. From 1970 to 1974 stores were opened in Falkirk, Ayr, Paisley, Kirkcaldy, Motherwell, Dundee, Kilmarnock, Airdrie, Dunfermline, East Kilbride and Greenock, with an average salesfloor space of 7,500 sq ft (700 m²). These sold a range of family fashions, household goods and electrical items. They were scaled-down versions of the main Glasgow department store.