| 1930s |
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1934: Latvian-born Meyer Lewis buys “Woodstock Auction Mart” in Cape Town. |
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1936: The name changes to M. Lewis and Company and new furniture is introduced to its range of products. |
| 1940s |
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1946: On 30 October, Lewis listed on the J.S.E. under the name “Lewis Stores Limited” to raise capital for expanding the business in South Africa. The household furnishing businesses and the entire issued share capital of M. Lewis and Company (Proprietary) Limited is acquired from Meyer, Jack and Israel Lewis. |
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1947: GUS plc enters the South African retail furniture market by acquiring a controlling interest in Lewis and Barons Furnishers. Lewis is subsequently delisted. |
| 1950s |
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1950: A programme of expansion commences and runs over the next seven years. |
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1957: Lewis has 55 stores trading under the names “Barons”, “Excelsior Meubels”, “Lewis” and “Universal Stores” (the latter being a credit clothing chain with nine stores). |
| 1960s – 1970s |
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1969 – 1972: Lewis establishes branches in Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland. |
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1972: Lewis acquires a furniture chain of about 50 stores from Edgars Consolidated Stores Limited, which is rebranded “Dan Hands”. Its clothing chain, Universal Stores, is sold to Edgars. |
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1973: The number of stores in the group reaches 227 |
| 1980s – 1990s |
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1980 – 1990: Further expansion takes place, including the establishment of Lewis (Lesotho), and the group grows by an additional 100 stores. |
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1994: The group’s financial services arm is established through wholly-owned subsidiary, Monarch Insurance.
1997: The group decides to refocus away from the lower end of the market and 130 Dan Hands stores are converted to Lewis stores. |
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1998: The Best Electric chain is launched to sell specialised electrical products in six stores in high traffic areas. |
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1998: The commencement of a credit application scoring system. |
| 2000s |
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1999 – 2000: The group embarks on a major investment in information and technology systems. |
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2003: Lewis acquires the business of Lifestyle Living, which has 18 stores serving a higher income market. |
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2004: Lewis is listed on the JSE under its newly constituted holding company, Lewis Group Limited. To facilitate the listing, GUS plc offered 46% of its holding in a book-building exercise, retaining 54% of the group. |
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2005: GUS plc sold its remaining holding in the group. The net result was a diverse shareholder base with no shareholder holding more than 20%. |
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2007: Lewis opens its 500th store. |
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2008: The Best Electric chain expands its product range by offering furniture lines and consequently, is rebranded as Best Home and Electric. |
