PARK DAVIDSON & COMPANY

PARK DAVIDSON & COMPANY Ltd was founded in October 1919 by Robert Park and Harry Davidson who had been travellers together with Arthur & Co the famous Glasgow wholesalers. They reckoned correctly that they could branch out on their own  by specialising in ladies fashions away from the deadening influence of a large general wholesale business.

Their business flourished due to the personal attention of the founders - a tradition that has served the company well throughout the years - and Alfred and Louis the sons of the founders joined the growing business to learn the trade and carry on the tradition of quality and service.

‘Mantles’ and ‘Costumes’ i.e., coats and suits, were the mainstay of the business for many years and these were sourced wholly in the UK, mainly in Glasgow, where there was a tradition of fine tailoring enabling the company to consolidate it’s reputation for quality and value.

The war years brought their own problems for the company with clothing coupons and utility marks complicating the business of trading but it survived these hard times and the post war period saw the introduction of the ‘stock van’.

Gown vans were a common sight in these days calling on the retail trade regularly with fresh stock of the latest fashions and PARK DAVIDSON & COMPANY Ltd started out with a converted WW2 ambulance as new vehicles were hard to come by.  This was followed with custom made vehicles which covered the country allowing buyers to select their choice of fashions and put them on sale immediately .Competition was fierce with many other fledgling operations springing up as trade improved.  The better retail shops had gown vans queuing up to show their wares and the shopping mall was a thing of the future!

Alfred Park’s son, Alistair, who joined his father in the business in 1957 after National Service  started by learning the warehouse side of the business before going ‘on the road’ with his own gown van and built up a personal connection some of which has survived to this day.

Big changes now followed as imports of cheaper merchandise started to disturb the cozy world of home production and PARK DAVIDSON & COMPANY Ltd had to adapt and offered imports along with traditional home grown products. About this time also, the CMT (Cut, Make & Trim) business was started which allowed the company, by buying their own fabrics and making up to their own specification, to give even better value with the added advantage of offering exclusive styles under the Rothmar of Scotland label.

In 1999 Sandra Scullion joined the firm after a successfull career on the high street with a couple of well known chains. She soon made her presence felt by bringing a new discipline to the financial side (computerising the accounts), and introducing a wealth of experience to many aspects of the business.

Apart from a few items and some imports, the Spring and Autumn Collections on offer today are exclusive and unique to PARK DAVIDSON & COMPANY Ltd, and bear the well-known Rothmar of Scotland label and still carry on the tradition of Robert Park and Harry Davidson - quality and value with personal attention. As the season progresses this range is augmented by up-to-the-minute fashions  from London and the latest imports from the Far East.

The growing Corporate Clothing part of the business specialises in supplying uniforms to shops, offices, and especially for Choirs and Bowling.