Building of the Month June 2024: Withy Grove Stores, 35-36 Withy Grove, Manchester M4 2BJ
Situated in the centre of Manchester's Northern Quarter lies the Withy Grove Stores. Surrounded by takeaway shops, you would be forgiven for thinking the building is abandoned and derelict. It sits just behind the Printworks and is known for its old metal sign "WITHY GROVE STORES" on its east elevation. Today, we believe the ground floor is still partly occupied by Withy Grove Office Interiors, which specialises in safes and reconditioned office furniture but the rest of the building appears empty and in poor condition.
The original Withy Grove Company was officially established in 1850. This was after starting life as the Richmond Safe Company (set up by John R Solomon in 1799), which supplied iron-branded and ironclad strongboxes for ships. The company moved to the offices seen today, in 1840, and renamed themselves Withy Grove Stores. From here the company expanded to have 3 sites in the North West – Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. It is thought that the building and business were passed down in the same family since the Victorian era.
The building is a lone reminder of similar industrial buildings in the street that have all since been lost. It boasts its original sash windows, a slate roof, decorative quoins and has examples of fine modillion eaves cornicing and a rare fanlight window pediment on the corner elevation. The internal condition of the building is unknown, but externally it is in a poor state of repair. There appears to be salt damage to the brickwork on the upper floors, as well as foliage growing out of the shopfront on the Dantzic Street frontage. As a survivor of Manchester's Victorian industrial heritage, the warehouse deserves to be protected and restored to a more secure condition.