ARE YOU BEING SERVED? THE STORY OF ROSSITERS OF PAIGNTON
If you ever saw an episode of the Are you being served ? TV series then you will already be familiar with the department store known as Rossiters which played such an important part in the life of Paignton for over 150 years. It is believed that the writers of the show, David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd based their format for the series on this particular store after getting to know Rossiters while working in the town during a summer season at the local theatre.
The shop - and its staff - were the subject of innumerable jokes during its run from 1972 to 1985 but there was nothing funny about the business face of the company in Paignton - or Paington as it was then called in Victorian times In 1858, at a time when Paignton was little more than a country village, a drapery shop was founded in Winner Street by two sisters, daughters of a local farmer - Sarah and Jane Rossiter.
Over time, the business outgrew the little shop in Winner Street where the owners , their families and their staff had lived over the shop. Sarah and her family moved to Palace Avenue, Paignton's main shopping street, in 1888, and over the years, acquired adjacent shops to enlarge their premises still further, making room for the new "departments they were gradually adding. In 1934, the family partnership was converted into a private limited company with four directors including Sarah Rossiter's son "Mr Frank" who, as the 1901 census shows. followed the family tradition in living above the shop at 7 Palace Avenue.