Druce & Co. Ltd. was a large furniture store situated at the corner of Baker Street and Blandford Street in west London. The store was also informally known as “the Baker Street Bazaar”, the site originally being the home of a horse bazaar which extended to carriages and other goods in the 1830s. The furniture store was established in the 1850s by a second hand furniture dealer called Thomas Charles Druce. Druce died in 1864 and his son Herbert took over and ran the business until 1913.On 8th December 1940 Druce & Co. Ltd. suffered extensive damage following a German bombing raid. The warehouse stock of bedding, furniture, carpets and antiques was largely destroyed. A small part of the building survived and it continued to be used by Druce & Co. until 1956. In 1957 the store was finally demolished and the site was developed as Michael House, serving as the UK headquarters of Marks & Spencer until 2005. The site now forms part of an office complex with adjoining shops and restaurants.
Druce & Co. Ltd. after the Second World War
by Mark Matlach
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