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One amazing journey. One great destination.

T H E S T O R Y O F A R I G H I B I A N CH I

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Arighi Bianchi has been part of thefurniture in Britain, quite literally, forover 150 years.

In fact, it’s fair to say that our storehas become a great British institution, famousfor its unique building, high-quality products,levels of service that belong to a gentler, more genteel era and family ownership that continuesto this day.

And we have our roots firmly planted in theNorth West. The North West of Italy, that is.Because this great British furnishing institutiondidn’t begin life in furnishing or in Britain, but in Italy and in silk.

Like all good stories, that of Arighi Bianchibegins with hardship.Civil war was raging around the tiny Italian

ARIGHI BIANCHI. THE HOME OF GREATHOME FURNISHING FOROVER 150 YEARS.

FOLLOWING THESILK ROAD ALL THEWAY FROM ITALY.

Like all good stories, that of Arighi Bianchibegins with hardship.Civil war was raging around the tiny Italian silk weaving townof Casnate, near Lake Como, way back in the early 1850’s.

silk weaving town of Casnate, near Lake Como, wayackin 1854.Life must have been tough and the details are obscure butone man decided to do something about it.

Because Antonio Arighi set off from his home town, on foot,heading north with very little in the way of luggage beyond hispassport papers, which still remain in the Arighi Bianchiarchive to this day. The good thing was that he was leavingthe civil war behind him. The bad thing was that he had the Alps in front of him.

But, undaunted, Antonio Arighi pressed on.

We don’t know quite how he managed it but he seems to havecrossed the mountains using the St.Gotthard Pass and something evenmore remarkable – a toboggan. And we don’t know what mishaps hehad to endure en route but what we can be sure of is that, after a journey doubtless lasting many weeks, he arrived, footsore and saddlesore, in Macclesfield.

WHY MACCLESFIELD?Because Macclesfield was in those days itselfa poor town of silk weavers so, even thoughAntonio was in a foreign country, he musthave felt himself to be in a community notdissimilar to the one he’d left.And with an in-built sense of adventure andentrepreneurialism, it was perhaps only natural for him to set up in business in thetown selling the latest ‘necessities’ - barometers and clocks.

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ANTONIO BIANCHI

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Why Antonio Arighi suddenly developed a passion for selling barometers and clocks to farmers in the local areawill probably always remain a mystery.The Industrial Revolution had changed manufacturing in Britain and perhapshe felt that his own craft skills simply couldn’t compete with the thunderingmachines that dominated the town. We can merely speculate that, hailing fromthe sunny climes of northern Italy, he was especially struck by the vagaries of the weather in Cheshire and Derbyshire. If ever a place needed barometers, it was here.

No matter. Because nothing, but nothing, was about to deter a man who’dtaken on the Alps and won.

So Antonio Arighi went on to starthis own mini-revolution in retailing.By inventing ‘Try Before You Buy’.

As with every revolution, this particular one started with a thorny old problem: namely the hard-headed local farmers Antonio was trying to sell to.Because, however good the time his clocks kept and however beautiful theburnished mahogany cases of his barometers, these sons of the land simplydidn’t want to know.

So Antonio hit upon a cunning ruse.

Upon pitching a barometer and receiving the customary brush-off, Antoniowould ask the farmer to look after it until he was next back in the area, tosave him having to carry it all the way back home.The farmer, perhaps evenfeeling a tiny pang of guilt, would take pity on him and agree to help.

‘TRY BEFORE YOU BUY’, LONG BEFORE ‘TRY BEFORE YOU BUY’.

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Then, on his return visit weeks later, Antonio would discover that the farmerhad become so attached to the device that had proved more reliable than any number of red skies at night, that he was more than happy to part with his hard-earned cash. The rest, as they say, is history.

‘Try Before You Buy’ became, and remains to this day, highly popular with customers and Antonio never looked back.

The business grew. And so did the range ofgoods he was supplying, as Antonio appliedthe skills he’d acquired selling barometers and clocks, first to picture framing, then to cupboards, cabinets and bookcases from new premises on Waters Green.

At this point, in 1868, just as Antonio Arighi’s business began to take off, Antonio Bianchi himself took off from Casnate and headed for Macclesfield to help him in the business. Antonio B had recently married Antonio A’s niece Teresa, but there was more than merely a familybond that drew Arighi to Bianchi.

ARIGHI BECOMESARIGHI BIANCHI.

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Because Antonio Bianchi was to provide something that was of inestimable value to the business.

He was a seasoned cabinet-maker himself.

Very soon Arighi’s sharp business brain and Bianchi’s equally sharp saw produced a

partnership made in cabinet making heaven with orders flowing in from such far-flung parts as the Potteries, Buxton and Manchester.

And, amazingly, invoices from this early periodstill exist today.

On the occasion of the store’s 155th anniversary in 2009, our nationwidesearch for the store’s oldest invoice produced an overwhelming response. (It seems that, in those days, our customers held on to our invoices asprecious souvenirs or proof of provenance). Thus far, the oldest onrecord belongs to an order dated 1870 for a walnut cabinet, a pair offootstools and three vases.And it’s interesting to note that,even then, the store was preparedto offer discounts to its customers wherever it could. Because the invoice shows a reduction of eightshillings and sixpence on a price ofseventeen pounds eight and six!

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In June of 1872, with ordersflooding in from far and wide,something rather less welcome

flooded into the firm’s ‘island’ premises in Waters Green,as the nearby River Bollin burst its banks.

The river water rose to a depth of three feet in the lower room, which wasstocked with precision turned timber and fine veneers. Planks of wood floatedout into the street and mattresses were ruined. While a horse in the stables almost drowned but somehow managed to fight its wayfree. But, if the flood waters threatened the business with

a minor disaster, they also threatened a majorone for the town.

All along the banks of the river, the town’scommercial hub, factories and privatedwellings were flooded, beer on stillage at the nearby Cross Keys pub was ruined and, as the waters continued to rise higher for two successive nights, the flood, andthe panic it instilled in the populace, spread further and further afield.

However, Antonio Arighi hadn’t fought his way out of a civil warand across Europe’s most daunting mountain range to be defeated by a flood. With the help this time, not of a sledge, but a sledgehammer, he and other brave souls, proceeded to tear

down the hoarding protecting the sides of the Buxton Road bridge, releasingthe flood water and allowing the river to flow away.

So we like to think that, of all the savings we’ve made for our customers overthe years, one very significant saving we made still stands out to this day!

MR. ARIGHI HELPSSAVE THE DAY.

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As the business grew from its smallfirst shop in Macclesfield, so did itsreputation with local high-society.

An order dated 1880 from the Lord Mayor of Macclesfield shows that he waswallpapering and re-furnishing both his own home and the Mayor’s Parlour atthe Town Hall, for which he purchased 25 yards of tapestry carpet, mahoganychairs with hair seats, a dining table, a swing glass, a ‘best’ fender with steel fireirons and a skin hearth rug.

In 1884 the Registrar’s Office and CountyCourt bought office chairs and cushions.Macclesfield Infirmary bought brassbedsteads with engravednameplates. While the Captain and Sergeant of the Militia Barracks werealso regular customers.Hadfield the Chemistbought a writing desk, dining table, pair of easychairs, cane rocker, table,towel rail and nine-piece leathersuite (the three-piece suite clearlybeing insufficient for some middle-classVictorian needs!).

And, perhaps most intriguing of all, are orders for a regular supply of Pembroke tables to Bullocks the Photographers in Backwallgate. One thought being that its customers appeared to like the table they were photographed with so much that they would invariably insist on buying it!

FURNISHING HIGH-SOCIETY WITH ALL ITS NEEDS.

Having helped to save the Cross Keys ‘island’ site fromthe flood of 1872, in the very same year Arighi and Bianchicame up against something they were powerless to resist. The inexorable tide of progress.The site was the subject of a compulsory purchase order as part ofthe road-widening scheme for the railway station approach. Thebuildings were demolished and the firm forced to re-locate to MillLane in nearby Sutton where it remained for the next ten years.

But business was growing apace as an old photograph of the row of cottages it occupied there at the time appears to illustrate. Antonio Bianchi

sits holding the reins of the company’s delivery cart with Arighi standing beside

it in his trademark white apron andhard hat. And, significantly, manychests of drawers are lined up onthe pavement ready for delivery.

Clearly, the new company of Arighi Bianchi was fast outgrowing itspremises. Which is why, in 1883, the two partners moved

into the rather more spacious accommodation of the store’scurrent building, the old Silk Mill, on what was then Commercial

Road. But even then there was something missing. The old mill’s industrial atmosphere lacked the style and panache that customers had

come to expect.

So, inspired by Joseph Paxton’s famous Crystal Palace built for the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, the two Antonios briefed a local builder, GeorgeRoylance, to renovate the premises and construct a new four-storey buildingto complement the existing structure, with an iconic façade featuring large Italianate plate glass windows in ornamental arched cast iron frames.

OUR VERY OWNCRYSTAL PALACE.

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The cost of altering the existing structure came in at £32.15s., while the cost of building the new showroom and façade amounted to £212.10s. a

significant sum for the time. But suffice to say it was worth it: thenew store was a sensation when it opened for business in 1892.In particular, the stunning new façade became a local icon thatstands to this day and a great talking point for passengers onthe nearby railway. Because Arighi Bianchi’s great exhibition of furniture had acquired a flavour of the Great Exhibition itself.

To celebrate the new store’s grand opening, the Macclesfield Courier and Heraldgave away a four-page supplement showcasing the goodson offer. This supplement provides us with a remarkable

insight into the furnishing prerequisites of a smart Victorian home. And here,amongst the typical sideboards, overmantels andbeds, the antimacassars and the umbrella stands ofthe period, we find some remarkable evidence of thestore’s pioneering spirit. Then, as now, the store wasrenowned for promoting and championing exciting new ideas and furnishing trends.

So, for example, we find the ‘latest novelty’, a Secretaire of American invention ‘which by simplypulling the cover down locks the whole of the drawers automatically’. And, in addition to theusual plain browns, a revolutionary new inlaidlinoleum ‘with an imperishable pattern’! Exotic woods, such asAmerican walnut and canary wood, were to be found in abundance. WhileArighi and Bianchi’s cosmopolitan world view and roving eye were responsiblefor bringing to the store the very best that ‘the Continent’ had to offer, from

AN INVENTIVE INVENTORY.

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Italian and ‘Parisian’ bedsteads to Brussels tapestries and Genoa velvets, alongwith all manner of exotica from the Orient.

Next to arrive on the scene at the turn of the century was FrancisArighi, nephew of Antonio and brother of Teresa. After a spell in Chicago sellingoysters and fruit from a barrow, Frank, as he was affectionately known, soon

became a partner in the firm, which in 1900, wasestablished as a Limited Company. To this day, Arighi Bianchi is the oldest limited company still

trading in its original format.

After many years of depending onhorses for transportation, ArighiBianchi’s innovative spirit also saw

the store operating the first motorised commercial vehicle in Macclesfield, a real

eye-opener in a world of horse-drawn vans. And a particularly poignant photograph still survives of the vehicle’s very first driver, EdwardConnolly, who was sadly to die at the Battle of the Somme in 1917.

But motorised delivery wasn’t the company’s only innovativemeans of driving business. It also pioneered ‘mail-order’, withits promise that ‘Every attention is devoted to letter orders’, underlining its undertaking to deal with orders by mail on the very daythey were received. Not only that, but this was to be a store for all, quaintly promoting ‘Goods for all classes’ with the second floor offering cheaper bedroom suites for servants’ rooms and the ‘artisan’ class.

While, finally, the two Antonios themselves both changed their names to ‘Anthony’ to signify that they really were now here to stay in their adoptedhomeland. And very soon they’d both be taking orders, quite literally, fromroyalty itself.

MOTORING AHEADWITH BUSINESS.

Word about the two Antonios’ remarkable emporium spread far and wide until it evenreached the ears of royalty.

In fact, when Edward the Seventh was still Prince ofWales, the store received a number of ordersfrom Marlborough House and Sandringham.And some of the receipts for these goods stillreside in the company’s archives.

One of these orders is from Princess Alexandra,for a pair of carved oak candlesticks. She obviously liked what she saw because, a fewyears later, on becoming Queen, she orderedanother two pairs.

IMPORTING FROM ALL OVER EUROPE, EXPORTING TO ALL OVER BRITAIN.In between the wars, Antonio Bianchi’s eldest son, Enrico, brought a whole new dimension to the store by importing wonderful fabrics, including tapestries, damasks, cretonnes, lace and velvets, from all over continental Europe.

Not only that, Enrico went even further by creating and printing his owndesigns. And, as the company’s import business grew, so did its exports to thefour corners of the country and beyond. While its wholesale fabric divisionbecame so successful that it completely overshadowed the furniture side ofthe business, which was kept going through the passion of Enrico’s youngestbrother, John Ernest.

EDWARD THE SEVENTH

FURNITURE FIT FOR A KING.

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Unfortunately, the outbreak of the second World Warput paid to the company’s wholesale fabric division

with the business being finally sunk, quiteliterally, when a torpedo destroyed one final consignment in the South Atlantic on a shipbound for South America.

After the war, in common with the rest of the world,Arighi Bianchi struggled topick up the pieces.

But, in the fine tradition of their father, Enrico and John Ernest set about restoringthe company’s prosperity. They leased

the Commercial Road premises, which hadlost its passing trade, to WK Lowe Knitwear

and opened a new shop on Chestergate, inMacclesfield town centre.

With Enrico’s death in 1956, ‘Mr. John’, as he came tobe known, became chairman, a role he continued to perform

until his death in 1992, aged 96. Upon taking over the running of the business, ‘Mr. John’s’ sons, Anthony

and Paul, secured an injection of capital for the business andinitiated a programme of refurbishment that would include anew rear entrance and a lift. And, with the increasing availability of merchandise, the store finally emerged from theausterity of the immediate post-war years and embarkedupon a period of growth and prosperity.

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FROM AUSTERITYTO PROSPERITY.

PAUL AND ANTHONY BIANCHI

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In 1970, plans for the long-mooted North-South Macclesfield ring-road were finallyapproved.This would have been all very well except itmeant, once again, that a compulsory purchaseorder was served on the company, which was instructed to find new premises.

Anthony and Paul Bianchi, ‘Mr John’s’ two sons and nephews of Enrico, were now running the business, and they took up the fight to save the building with its famous façade.

Fortunately, they weren’t alone.

One of the great defenders ofBritain’s architectural heritage,the celebrated poet Sir JohnBetjeman, joined them in the struggle, as did TheArchitectural Review, The Victorian Society and hundreds of local people who signed a petition protesting against the plans.

And, in this instance, we’re glad to say, people-power won the day and the building at last received the official recognition it deserved,

along with a ‘Grade 2*’ listing. It was a landmark decision. Which meant thecompany could return to its original home and breathe a sigh of relief.

RELIEF FROM THE RELIEF ROAD. A LANDMARK DECISION.

BEFORE THE RING ROAD

SIR JOHN BETJEMAN

In over 150 years in business, we believe there is one thing

that holds the key to our success. The family has always stayed firm. And the firm has always stayed family.Arighi Bianchi is a fourth-generation family-owned business.Today, the immediate descendants of Antonio Bianchi hold the reins at the store. What this means is that the principles, ethics andstandards first established by both Antonios in the mid-nineteenth centuryare still adhered to even today.

And, just as our fine old building has seen several generations of Bianchis at the helm, so too has it seen successive generationsof our customers’ families come through the door.

It is this sense of continuity, and community, that we believe makesArighi Bianchi not just special but unique in today’s world, in the bond weforge with our customers, not just as customers, but as friends.

We intend to maintain this tradition into this, our third century in business,and beyond. And it’s ourfirm belief that we will.

KEEPING THE FAMILY FIRM.

L-R: ROB, NICK AND RICHARD BIANCHINOT SHOWN: JOHN BIANCHI, SARAH BIANCHI

THIS ORIGINAL LEADED WINDOW WAS

RE-HOMED AFTER BEING SPOTTED IN

THE FRONT WINDOW OF AN ANTIQUE

SHOP IN MONTREAL, CANADA,

BY AN ARIGHI BIANCHI CUSTOMER.

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One of the great things about being able tolook back on over 150 years of history is theability to retain those things from the past thatreally are worth retaining.

And, no, we don’t mean horse-drawn vans or furniture for servantsand ‘artisans’. Or even linoleum ‘with an imperishable pattern’!But principally the one thing the Victorian era is justly famous for. Service.

That’s why here you’ll find choice in depth and breadth, andall the latest trends in home furnishing, combined with levelsof service and expertise that really do derive from a previousage. For example, ‘Try Before You Buy’ is a service that ourcustomers still enjoy to this day. Except that, today, it’s no

longer a means of persuading sceptical farmers to part with their hard-earnedcash, but a way of ensuring that our customers are happy with their purchase.That it actually ‘fits the bill’ before they pay it, in fact.

We also still offer a pre-delivery inspection service to make sure, for example,that the four-poster bed that looked so stunning in the showroom will actuallyfit in your bedroom. When we deliver, we won’t just leave your furniture onthe doorstep for you to manhandle. Instead, we’ll assemble and position it, in the room you want it in, and remove and dispose of all packing. And, if youwish, remove your old furniture and donate it to charity for re-use. Whenyou buy a new bed from us, we take responsibility for your old bed too, removing and disposing of it in the most environmentally-friendly way possible.

But that’s not all.

Because at Arighi Bianchi we believe that today the term ‘shop assistant’ has become something of a misnomer. Shop almost anywhere on the HighStreet or retail park and you’ll get precious little assistance at all.

WRAPPING UP THEPRESENT IN THE PAST.

Here, however, things are different,even a little old fashioned, in the best possible sense, of course. So don’t expect plus fours and tailcoats, but do expect experience, expertise and a wealth of knowledge, qualities that have become something of an

anachronism in this day and age.This doesn’t just apply to those staff memberswho’ve been with us for decades, but to our younger staff too.

For us, of course, they’re the future. But we also like to make sure that eventhey keep one foot firmly planted in the past.

Of course, when all’s said and done, it’s not the store’swonderful iconic façade that’s the most important thingabout Arighi Bianchi. It’s what lies behind it.And here again the present owes a great deal to the legacy of the past. Because, with 150 years or more of scouring the globefor the best in furnishing design, we know precisely where tolook to find the best quality and value.

Today this wealth of experience and know-how has enabled us to source and offer our customers famous brand namesthroughout every department of the store. All broughttogether, under one roof, by the equally famousbrand that is Arighi Bianchi.

FAMOUS BRANDS UNDERONE VERY FAMOUS ROOF.

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It’s fair to say that, with the opening ofCafé Bar Arighi, we’ve become almost

as famous for feeding our customers with deliciousfreshly prepared food as we are for feeding them withfresh furnishing ideas.And, in keeping with everything at Arighi Bianchi, every dish is a perfect example of good taste.Café Bar Arighi offers an exciting menu of stylish and imaginative dishes,for a satisfying lunch or a light snack, from hearty peasant soups to perfect melt-in-the-mouth paninis and from delicious penne al salmone to fish andchips with a twist.

We make our own scrumptious cakes and scones in our very own bakery.Our wine list puts the emphasis on zesty whites and full-bodied reds fromItaly. Our Italian origins also serve us well inserving up what we believe to be the bestespresso this side of the Mont Blanc tunnel!

CAFÉ BAR ARIGHI.OUR GOOD TASTEEXTENDS TO FOOD.

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While the ambience of Café Bar Arighi, much like the food, is light, elegantand sophisticated, making it the perfect spot to meet with friends, take a re-energising pit-stop or mull over prospective purchases at your leisure.

And perhaps, even to reflect for a moment, on a great furnishing destination(the destination for inspiration, as we like to say), its colourful and eventfulpast and its stylish, exciting present.

Because, having been round the houses and the warehouses, and the furniture floors of department stores, once you’ve arrived here you toomight feel that, at last, you really and truly have arrived. Just as AntonioArighi and Antonio Bianchi did all those years ago.

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MACCLESFIELD SINCE 1854

UPHOLSTERY / DINING / OCCASIONAL / BEDS / BEDROOM / FLOORCOVERINGS / FABRICS / ACCESSORIES

Arighi Bianchi, The Silk Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 1LH. Tel 01625 613333. www.arighibianchi.co.uk

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