D&R Furnishers

D&R Furnishers (Marlborough) was originally called Dible and Roy, and our story goes back a fair way! The original shop in the Dible and Roy chain was opened in Ludgershall, Wiltshire by Ernest Roy in 1903. Ernest was a member of the great retailing family, ‘Roys of Wroxham’, in Norfolk. Being one of 18 children, & his father one of 17, Wroxham was beginning to get a bit crowded so several family members moved further afield in search of employment. Ernest worked in a number of places inc luding Marlborough where he met his future wife Winifred Glover whom he married in 1900. In 1901 the family moved to Ludgershall to live above the shop. Although he had two sons neither followed him into the business, & in 1939 his son-in-law, Cyril Dible moved down from London to join him, having lost his job with the outbreak of the 2nd world war. Ernest died in 1948 leaving his son-in-law running the business with his three sons, at one stage having shops in Ludgershall, Salisbury, Fordingbridge, Winchester & Barnstaple where one of his daughters lived. In 1959 they were down to the original shop & two in Salisbury when the business was split between the three boys, the elder boy David retaining the three shops, & the other two moving to open up independently, Peter at Chandlers Ford, & Robert at Marlborough. In 1976 our shop on the High Street in Marlborough was razed to the ground by fire, so we moved down to The Parade, where we still trade now.   Read More