
CLARKSONS OF YORK
OUR HISTORY
Clarkson's is situated in the Historic City of York on one of the oldest streets in the city. The building on High Petergate dates back to the 1500's with many of its original features including the resident Ghost. The store began when upon returning from his service with the Royal Ordnance Corp in Kenya, Ken Clarkson and previous Andersons colleague George Brown, opened a tailoring and regimental tie stockist in 31 Low Petergate. Shortly after opening, a rather persistent Van Heusen representative persuaded Mr Clarkson to take twelve shirts on sale or return, a safety-net for the extremely hesitant retailer. Upon selling out within the week, Clarkson's began its gradual expansion of stock and specialities.
Upon Kens death in the late 1970’s, the store was attained by John Barker, who over his almost 20 year premier directed the store towards specialist Shirts - eventually being dubbed “The Shirt Store” of York. After his multi-decade retail service to the public, John went into retirement in September 1991, selling the institution to Mel, Zoe, and Andrew Hannan.

- Circa 1991

- York Press, 2012

- York Press, 2019

- Circa 1991
"These are legacies that Mr Clarkson and Mr Barker left us - the tradition of service and attention to originality and detail. We shan't let them down." - Andrew Hannan 1991
Over the next few decades, Andrew developed into a leadership role at the shop he first started at as a Saturday boy under John Barker. In 2012, Clarkson's expanded into 31 Petergate, over doubling the retail space and indulging their new speciality - Tweeds. Clarkson's went on to see an expansion into ladieswear in 2015 with the “Tweed Room”, and the construction of exclusive tweeds for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society via Abraham Moons. In 2019, Clarkson's expanded again, opening a store on Blake Street to expand their available selections of Tweeds for the public.
After two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, Clarkson's is once again trading in all three of its stores, and for their third decade Zoe and Andrew are firmly at the helm. Boasting a wealth of retail experience, the Clarkson's staff reflect not only the history of British retail, but the proud heritage of a truly Yorkshire menswear store.
"You don't see shops like this anymore"