Vergo Retail

Vergo Retail Ltd
Type	Retail
Genre	Department Store
Founded	2007
Founder(s)	David Thompson
Headquarters	Liverpool, England
Industry	Retail

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Vergo Retail Ltd is a department store business based in Liverpool, England. It was set up in 2007. Vergo owns and runs nine department stores it considers to be “regionally significant”, including Lewis's of Liverpool, Robbs of Hexham, Joplings of Sunderland and Derrys of Plymouth.^[1] It also owns four Homemaker stores in Devon.

Three of the department stores were formerly owned by Owen Owen Ltd, and the remaining stores were acquired from the Plymouth & South West Co-operative Society (Plymco).^[2] The group is controlled by David Thompson, a former director of Mothercare, Habitat and BHS, and more recently director & shareholder of MK One which was sold in 2004 for £55m. ^[1]^[2]^[3]

Lewis's Department Store, Liverpool

In February 2009, Plymouth and South West Co-operative Society agreed to sell its non-food business to Vergo.^[1] This consists of four Homemaker stores in Devon and Cornwall and Derrys Department Store in Plymouth.^[1] On March 15, Vergo took control of the Plymouth region stores.^{[citation needed]}

On Tuesday 16th June 2009, it was announced that Vergo Retail would take over the existing East of England Co-operative Department Stores based throughout Norfolk Suffolk and Essex. It is believed that the 350 current staff employed by the East of England Co-operative were to keep their jobs during the transfer to the Vergo Retail Group as from 4th July 2009. Stores in Norwich, Ipswich,Great Yarmouth,Clacton-on-Sea,Colchester, and other specilist home stores, are now owned by Vergo Retail Ltd.