Neilson, Shaw & Macgregor was a Glasgow–based silk mercers and warehouse store that specialised in tartan. It was founded in 1866 at 44 Buchanan Street, taking over the former premises of Campbells, Neilson, Shaw & Company.[1] The building on Buchanan Street was known as 'The Pavilion', which resulted in the firm's telegraphic address of 'Pavilion, Glasgow'.[2]
By the 1880s, the firm had expanded into carpet manufacture and upholstery, and was a significant retailer of Scottish tartans.[3] At the 1888 Glasgow International Exhibition, Neilson, Shaw & Macgregor exhibited the tartans of over 140 clans and families.[4] At this time, the firm employed around three hundred members of staff and supplied many prominent individuals from Glasgow and the west of Scotland.[2]
Front page, ‘Descriptive Catalogue of the Clan tartans and Family tartans’, Neilson, Shaw & Macgregor, Glasgow International Exhibition, 1888. National Library of Scotland, APS.1.78.163.
Neilson, Shaw & Macgregor closed its doors in 1917. An article in the Hamilton Advertiser declared that the closure 'will leave a blank in Buchanan Street as noticeable as a missing front tooth, for Neilson, Shaw and Macgregor is a well-known city landmark'.[7] The company's stock was sold for a sum of £12,000.[7]
References
^"Business". The Glasgow Herald. 6 December 1866. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
^ abGlasgow of To-day: the metropolis of the north [...] London: Historical Publishing Company. 1888. p. 186.
^"Neilson, Shaw & Macgregor". Post Office Annual Glasgow Directory: 471. 1888–1889 – via National Library of Scotland.
