Meesons
Meesons was once a well-known national chain of confectioners and tobacconists in the United Kingdom.The company was founded in the kitchen of a house in Pendleton, Lancashire, in the early 1890s when Mrs Meeson decided to sell her homemade sweets to local children. The company grew rapidly and opened shops in and around Salford and Manchester, and its continued growth meant that a warehouse/distribution centre which doubled as the head office was acquired in Ford Lane. Growth continued steadily until the outbreak of the First World War, by which time outlets were in places such as Wigan, Liverpool, Blackpool and may others.
At the end of the War (c. 1919) Arthur Meeson sold the company as a going concern to Bodens. Within a few years they had reduced the trading status of the company to such a level that Arthur Meeson was able to repurchase the remaining business, around the end of the 1920s, and once again proceeded to rebuild both the Meeson name and its position as a major player in the confectionery world. The business went from strength to strength and in around 1937/8 it was sold to the Barker and Dobson Confectionery Group.
It was at this time that Arthur Meeson purchased a Salford-based confectionery manufacturer based in Cow Lane called The Eclipse Candy Company. With the outbreak of the Second World War the supply of essential ingredients, sugar and cocoa, dried up and the company was forced to close.
Its shops had a place in most larger towns until the 1950s but the chain subsequently lost its prominent position due to changing tastes and fashions. Meesons were possibly best known for an early buy one get one free offer under which it was possible to buy a quarter of sweets (quarter of a pound – 4 ounces – 113 grammes) and get a quarter free.
By the 1970s Meesons had been merged with Barker and Dobson's other newsagent chain A Lewis and Co (Westminster) Ltd to become Lewis Meeson Newsagents.
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