It was here in Newtown, in 1859, that Pryce Pryce-Jones opened his own draper shop.
He named it the Royal Welsh Warehouse.
Two years later, Pryce-Jones would build the world’s first mail-order business.
A postcard advertising Pryce Jones mail order business.
That same year the railway came to Newtown.
Their orders were dispatched by stage coaches.
Flannel samples from the Royal Welsh Warehouse.
Photo: Powys: A Day in the Life
A Pryce Jones Catalogue.
Photo: Bodleian Libraries
Pryce-Joness mail-order business was a roaring success.
Pryce-Jones advertised this fact on the companys adverts, which in turn attracted even more business.
Queen Victoria was an early customer and it was said Queen Victoria only wore Welsh flannel bloomers!
Pryce Pryce-Jones
Having outgrown his original warehouse, Pryce-Jones moved into a new spacious building in 1879.
This was enlarged in 1887 and 1904.
Such was the volume of mail orders that the warehouse even had its own post office branch inside.
Flannel was the mainstay of Pryce-Joness business.
Thousands of these rugs were sold to the Russian and British army.
For his efforts, Pryce-Jones was knighted in 1887 by Queen Victoria.
He also became the High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire.
The Royal Welsh Warehouse still stands in Newtown.
Unfortunately, his business didnt survive.
The Royal Welsh Warehouse in Newtown.
