Letter: Harrod's takeover

Sir: Michael Cole (letter, 19 December) appears to have misread my comparison of the early histories of Kendals of Manchester and Whiteleys (letter, 18 December). I did not say that Whiteleys was taken over by Harrods earlier this century, which would indeed be incorrect.

I identified Kendals as the older store, since its founders, the Watts family, had been in business long before William Whiteley was born, and remarked that 'this ancestor of the department store' later became part of Harrods in the successful takeover to which Mr Cole refers. Whiteleys, as he points out, was later taken over by Selfridges.

Yours faithfully,

DAVID CRAWFORD

Bickley, Kent