Fludes Carpets
Established in the late 1920s[1] [Fludes Carpets were a carpet showroom at 37/38 Queen's Road, occupying the site left by the bombing of the Bedford Arms during WW2. An additional site in town was at 50 Robertson Street. Following the shop's closure, Abbey National (now Santander) occupy the Queen's Road site.
Company History
The company first traded in 1929, being founded by Leslie Flude, with shops also Wallasey and Birkenhead. Following the Second World War, when owing to Leslie's service, his wife Gladys and his son Dudley ran the business[1], he moved to the South Coast, expanding the business with a chain of over 20 shops extending from Hastings to Bournemouth and up as far as Tunbridge Wells.[2]. Due to a new innovation - foam backed carpets - a large number of competitors appeared. Fludes shifted their business model by moving more into rugs and later reducing the number of branches - the Hastings store being one of the ones to be closed[1].
Images
- Images
FludesCarpetsQueensRoad1950s
Queens-Road-in-the-rush-hour.-1960.
Fludes-Carpets.-1962.
Robertson Street 1962
Mods and Rockers invasion 1964 04
1980
Hastings St Leonards - 1980s Footage Fludes YouTube
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- ↑ a b c Facebook: Historical Hastings - Leigh Kennedy (retrieved 10 Dec 2023)
- ↑ Fludes Carpets: Our History - Fludes Carpets, accessdate: 4 November 2019
