Our Story
We've been a Family Business for 75 Years...
We've been a family-run business for 75 years, so we know what’s important to our customers – stylish, beautifully crafted furniture that really makes a house a home.
How it all began...
Edward Ronald Cooke was born on 29th November 1924, in Church Lane, Aston. His mother, Mabel Cartwright was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, and then moved to Birmingham during the first world war where she met and married Edward Cooke from Aston.
Ted Cooke started out in business for himself in November 1946. Before the second world war young Ted Cooke trained as a tool setter working for Dunlop in Erdington.
Ted had failed his 11 plus and left school at the age of 14 with no qualifications. Within three days of leaving school, he was at a factory lathe as an apprentice fitter and turner earning 12 shillings and six pence a week. When war broke out in 1939 Ted was paid to be a fire spotter in Erdington, watching for German bombers targeting the Dunlop factory.
Despite being in a reserved occupation, rather than wait to be called up he volunteered to join the Royal Navy, aged 18 in 1942. After being sent to Roedean, Ted was posted as a petty officer electric artificer aboard HMS Diadem, an anti- aircraft cruiser, escorting convoys to Russia.
The task was one of the most dangerous of the war. The trips beyond Norway and Finland to reach Russia’s northern ports had a five day turn around, dropping off arms and food. Twenty ships travelled together in convoy.
HMS Diadem’s job was to try and deflect attacks on the merchantmen by German U-boats and planes. At times it was so cold on deck that the sea water from the waves would turn to ice, and bare flesh would stick to metal railings. Though the Diadem did come under fire, and was hit, fortunately Ted was unhurt and unlike others never had to abandon ship and take to the lifeboats, or worse swim for it.
During his service with the Royal Navy that Ted met his wife, Alicia, on a call to the docks at Newcastle-On-Tyne. Alicia Finlay lived nearby and the pair met at a dance.
They married on 19th December 1945 and made their home in temporary accommodation in Walmley, Sutton Coldfield.
After leaving the Royal Navy in 1946 Ted Cooke received £75 demob money, cash he intended to use to start up his own business rather than to go back being a tool setter permanently. After a year with Dunlop Ted set up a book lending round with two friends from work.
He bought a selection of books using his demob money and established himself in Mere Green and Falcon Lodge buying new books for between 7s 6d and 10s 6d each and renting them out for 6d a week, moving the travelling library around in a three-wheeler Reliant until graduating to an Austin Minivan in the 1960’s.
By the late 1950’s Ted abandoned the library business to concentrate on haberdashery and other household goods.
He used the Bell and Nicholson warehouse in Birmingham as his main supplier. In this way Ted built up a very strong and lucrative credit round.
In the late 1960’s because of the growing boom in fitted carpets Ted concentrated on this part of his business.
Until then the business had been run from Ted and Alicia’s home in Walmley and later Boldmere.
So successful would the carpet business become that in 1971 Ted bought an old post office in Jockey Road, Sutton Coldfield and knocked it down within hours to make way for new premises.
A Family Business is born....
Ted’s son, Graham, was born in 1952. He joined his father, in 1972, after he had attended Carnegie college, Leeds. Both sold to customers, delivered furniture and fitted carpets.
The credit round was now sold to enable the family to concentrate on carpets and furniture. Carpet sales, however, began to decrease as furniture increased in popularity. The Cookes set about improving their furniture range offering an increasing choice of brand names backed by the kind of personal service that would become their hallmark. The business now became Cooke and Son Furniture. The Jockey Road shop was one of the first retailers to offer customers a discount.
Then Expansion...
Cooke & Son bought the Old Stone’s laundry premises, a three acre site in Goosemoor Lane, Erdington from the Birmingham Co-Op in 1982.
The rundown 12,000 sq ft building was turned into a showroom in just three months opening its doors for business on 22nd June 1982.
Seven years later a series of extensions had seen the premises grow to 65,000 sq ft and more extensions would follow.
Cookes Goosemoor Lane Before Construction
Cookes Goosemoor Lane During Construction
Cookes Goosemoor Lane Present
Another store opened in Christchurch, Dorset in 1993 and to coincide with the business changed its name from Cooke & Son to Cookes Furniture.
Present Day...
Present Day Cookes now have two prestigious stores located in Birmingham and Dorset, and employ nearly 100 members of staff.
Our Midlands store features over 85,000 square feet of sofas, dining, beds and bedroom furniture, occasional furniture and accessories.
It’s also home to Edward’s Restaurant, a premium British dining experience seating up to 80.
Our Christchurch store offers a similar range of high quality, branded furniture set over 25,000 square feet and consisting of four furniture departments: Fitted Bedroom and Office Furniture.
At the centre of it all is our huge warehouse and distribution centre, providing 50,000 square feet of space.
Looking Forward...
Furniture trends may have changed over the years, but our values haven’t.
We still pride ourselves on offering the personal service you’d expect from one of the UK’s leading furniture retailers.
And with Graham and his three daughters along with Managing Director, James Pike now responsible for running the business, family is still at the heart of everything we do.
It’s all part of our commitment to our customers.
From our family, to yours.
