Welcome to Peters Fashions, we are an independent family
owned department
store in the heart of Huddersfield.
Our aim has always
been to offer choice, individuality,
excellent value, quality and the best
customer service, to ensure your
complete satisfaction.
Peters is an independent
Department Store, located in the heart of Huddersfield Town
Centre.
The store anchors the Packhorse Centre, in Huddersfield's premier shopping street,
King
Street. Opposite Boots, WH Smiths, Marks and Spencer and directly adjacent to the entrance to Kingsgate
Shopping
Centre.
Peters trades on 20,000 square foot over 4 floors. We are primarily a store full of
successful and award winning Brands.
Since 1982 Peters Fashions has seen 3
generations of the Whittle family working
behind the scenes. Caroline Whittle who
heads the King Street department store with
her husband David, states it is “central to
all of our lives.”
In 2007 when the BBC
produced a documentary about the store, the
couple’s two sons Jonathan and Joseph, told
the programme makers that Peters was an
extension of their family life.
“They
were always here, they’ve grown up with it,”
says David, who was also raised within the
retail trade.
Jonathan, who has
undertaken a degree in international
business management at Manchester
University, used to manage the store on
Sundays. His brother Joseph, also pursuing
business studies, has now taken over this
role. “We are not leading them into the
business,” says David, “they are genuinely
interested in it and have both worked in the
store at weekends and during holidays.
David and Caroline have celebrated their
silver wedding in 2011; even their
relationship was formed behind counter in
Peters.
Like his father, David trained at
Schofields in Leeds, also taking a business
studies course. Caroline was a 16-year-old
Saturday girl when she joined Peters and
started working full-time at the store as a
management trainee, studying on day release
at Huddersfield Technical College – enrolled
on the same course that her son Joseph is
now taking.
The Whittles are known for
their amazing capacity to bounce back from
difficulties. It is a strength that they
have needed in both their business and
private lives. They lost their cherished
eldest child, Charlotte, who was born with a
heart defect, 13 years ago at the age of 10–
a truly devastating blow for the entire
family.
After nearly losing the business
5 years ago they fought back and now face
the new challenge of seeing Peters through
the current recession. “After what we’ve
been through we are now more experienced at
dealing with the changing high street,” said
David.
