Peek inside flats in former Randalls department store
ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES WAS ONCE FILMED IN STORE
A DISTINCTIVE 1930s London department store where Only Fools and Horses was once filmed has reopened as a luxury block of flats.
The former family-owned Randalls department store in Uxbridge, West London, has been converted into 14 apartments seven years after closing its doors for the last time in 2015. Founded in 1891, the Art Deco building was built in 1937 and became a Grade II listed building in 2008.
The Vine Street building’s iconic façade has been preserved in the new development by Inland Homes, as have some of the department store’s original features, including the cash desk, pneumatic tube system and shop signs. The flats have been built in the original building with a second-floor extension added.
The apartments are a mixture of studio, one and two-bedroom properties designed with an open-plan layout by design company Phoenix Interior Designers.
Each property has underfloor heating, high quality kitchen appliances and trendy white bathrooms.
A former fire station next to the department store has also been converted into three one and two-bedroom duplexes featuring open-plan living and kitchen areas with high ceilings and “a light, airy feel”.
Property prices in the new development start from £320,000 and the apartments are now available for viewing.
Randalls department store was a family-run business, operated by five successive generations of the same family.
During its long life, the store was used as a set for several TV shows, most famously Only Fools and Horses.
It also courted controversy during the Second World War when its adverts were accused of falling foul of wartime censorship.
The store’s last owner was Sir John Randall, former MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, who closed it after it could no longer compete against online shopping.
Speaking at the time of its closure, Randall described the department store closing as being “like a bereavement”.