Home and Bargain returns to Liverpool roots as famous discount store celebrates 50 years

For most people across the UK, it is known as Home Bargains — but in Liverpool, the store’s original name remains firmly part of local identity.

Mention the discount retailer outside the city and many Liverpudlians will quickly point out that it was always “Home and Bargain”.

To celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary, the Liverpool city centre branch on Bold Street has been given a nostalgic makeover, with the original red and white Home and Bargain branding returning to the shop front.

The retailer was founded by Tom Morris in Old Swan, Liverpool, in 1976 when he was just 21 years old. Starting with limited resources, Morris built the business around affordable household goods and toiletries.

Coming from a Liverpool retailing family with three generations of shopkeepers, he followed in the footsteps of his relatives and gradually expanded the business across the city.

For nearly two decades, locals knew the stores as Home and Bargain. It was not until 1995, when the company introduced a new look and slightly changed its name as it expanded nationally, that Home Bargains became the official brand.

However, many customers in Liverpool never adopted the new name, and the original version continued to live on through everyday conversation.

The Bold Street transformation is designed as a tribute to the company’s beginnings and its loyal Liverpool customers. The store will also feature a collection of retro products celebrating five decades of trading.

Today, the business has grown from a single Liverpool shop into a nationwide retailer with more than 500 stores and over 22,000 employees.

The company has ambitious plans for further expansion, aiming to reach 1,000 stores and employ more than 40,000 people in the future.