We were delighted to open our new store on the site of the former Two Bears hotel recently. Hughes has been trading in Great Yarmouth and Gorleston for over 60 years and we consider ourselves part of the local community. The new store was built on the site of the former Two Bears hotel and it was vitally important to us that we acknowledged the heritage associated with a building that had been part of the town for so long.
We invited all Primary Schools in Great Yarmouth to enter our Colouring and name the Two Bears competition, with the winning school receiving £2500 of electrical goods of their choice from our new store.
We were amazed to receive hundreds of excellent entries. Our judges Mayor Shirley Weymouth; Anne Edwards, senior editor of the Yarmouth Mercury, Justin Taylor, Managing Director of Graphitas and our own Robert Hughes were set the onerous task of selecting a winning entry. Meanwhile, we worked with local builders to carefully remove the two statues that had been on the original construction for over 90 years, they were then fully restored and now sit proudly position them on top of the new store.
Nine year old Ella Chidlow from Bradwell, near Great Yarmouth, won the competition, which also involved colouring in a drawing of the two bears. Her school, Homefield Primary School, now has a tablet computer for every classroom due to her brilliant creativity.
Ella chose to name the bears Nelson, after Lord Nelson, who was given freedom of the town, and Anna, after Black Beauty author Anna Sewell, who was born in Great Yarmouth.
Ella’s prize was a £2,500 school voucher to spend in the store. Head teacher Ryan Freeman chose ten iPad tablets complete with cases, and two CD radio players. We were delighted to also present Ella with an iPad and case for herself.
The prizes were presented to Mr Freeman and Ella by our managing director Robert Hughes and Darren Clements, manager of the new Great Yarmouth store.
“Our congratulations go to Ella for her thoughtful suggestion of names and also for the drawing which proudly hangs in our store,” said Robert. “Speaking to Mr Freeman I know how important IT is when teaching pupils today so we know the tablets will get plenty of use in their new home.
“This is the final part of a long journey in our £1.5m regeneration of the site of the former derelict Two Bears hotel. We have now turned it into an ultra-modern store with its own car park, meaning local residents can shop in town for all their electrical goods, rather than having to go to Norwich or Lowestoft. It also shows Hughes giving a big vote of confidence in the future of Great Yarmouth.”
When you pass, be sure to say hello to Nelson and Anna!
