Eve & Ranshaw

The oldest department store in the world? Maybe. But it’s not all frumpy rumpy old fuddy.
I was in town when all the sales were happening. Thus, everything had a good price.
At the entrance of this store, there is a beautiful display of bathing things: scented, glittery, soapy things. Beautiful. Further back there are hats and belts. Then a small section of crystal stuff. And other department store areas.
Even for the experienced shopper, I was having a tough time telling the department stores apart. I was trying to organize by hierarchy and some left me a bit confused. This was not as trendy as New Look nor as cheap in quality. But it’s not M&S. Everything is expensive in the UK. Even going to the toilet comes with a fee.

This is really a shop for the ‘finer’ ladies in town. It offers expensive clothes and gifts, mostly aimed at older women (and in some cases men). I’m nearly 30 and I have only ever bought one item of clothing from there (which was for a wedding) and occassionally gifts for other (older) people from there. Its quite large but navigating the shop floor isn’t easy at all. I would not recommend taking children in there as pushchairs/​prams are a nightmare and loose children would be a recipe for disaster in the ‘glass’ section. On a plus point, they do have some nice jewellery and handbags, on ocassion.

This is one of the oldest stores in the market town. I think all the ladies like to shop here because it offers good value, nice design and a very homely feel.
They have mostly middle aged style clothing and homeware, with underwear and footwear upstairs. They always have a nice range of handbags actually!
Staff are very nice and treat their customers well. I like the fact that some of the older ladies working there have been there for years and are very down to earth!

Ah, Eve and Ranshaw — Louth’s traditional old-​fashioned department store. I know a lot of people who rave about this place, but I’m not one of them — it’s a decent enough shop, but I think it’s too crowded, and tries to sell too many different things in too small a space. They only have small ranges of all the items they offer, which means choice is limited, and a lot of the designers they stock are old-​fashioned and unfashionable.
On the ground floor you find handbags, men’s clothing, women’s clothing, kitchenware, china, glass and bedding as well as a fabric/​haberdashery department. Typical brands on offer include Portmeirion china and Fiorelli handbags. Upstairs is the lingerie shop, which admittedly has a fantastic range, particularly of shapewear.
Eve and Ranshaw is crowded and it’s hard to negotiate if you have a buggy or a child with you, but since the staff aren’t child-​friendly anyway, this isn’t really a problem as its just somewhere to avoid if you are shopping with kids.
It’s a mainstay of the town, so I hope it keeps going, but I think it needs to move with the times — if only slightly — if it’s to survive another 100+ years!