Bonmarché is a British clothing retailer founded by Singh Chima in 1982. Since April 2019, the retailer has been owned by The Edinburgh Woollen Mill.[2]
The clothing retailer had over 380 stores nationwide, employed over 4,000 people and was the United Kingdom's largest budget fashion retailer selling womenswear in a wide range of sizes – especially clothing proportioned specifically for larger sized individuals. Ranges included casual and formal separates, outerwear, swimwear, lingerie nightwear and accessories, all designed for larger women.
History
Bonmarché was founded in 1982, by Parkash Singh Chima. The Sikh businessman arrived in the United Kingdom in 1950, from the Punjab and settled in Ely, Cambridgeshire, from where he launched a door-to-door business selling clothing items. The family bought two retail clothing firms in 1982 – Wiltex and Hartley – which had twenty six indoor market locations across the north of England.
Chima moved to Huddersfield, and ran the business with two of his sons, Gurchait and Gurnaik.
The first Bonmarché store opened in Doncaster in 1985, and this was the start of the chain that grew into more than three hundred stores, a huge headquarters at Grange Moor, and a turnover of more than £200 million. Chima retired and left two sons to run the business, before they sold to the Peacock Group in July 2002.[3]