About Us

Situated on the eastern edge of the Wolds at the apex of both Skegness and Cleethorpes and the Market Rasen and Horncastle triangles, is Louth, recently voted the 4th most popular UK town in which to live.   With a fascinating maze of narrow streets and, seen from miles around, the tallest parish church spire in the country, this busy well to do market town is, quite literally, the focal point for the region! Sitting on the Greenwich meridian, the line that marks where world time and longitude are measured from, many charming aspects of Louth seem, themselves to have ‘marked time’ through the centuries. The visitor will notice immediately an air of permanence and reliability, particularly in the town centre where many commercial establishments have traded successfully and in the same families for many decades. Nowhere is this more in evidence than at the region’s longest establish and favourite department store Eve & Ranshaw.

In 1781 during the reign of George 111, Adam Eve began trading on this site and thus started a saga of expansion and success which continues to this day.

The Sandwith family has owned Eve & Ranshaw Ltd. for just 30 years of the 225 years of trading, but continue the tradition of family ownership and independence. The photographs below show one of Eve & Ranshaw’s former roles of Removal Contractors with a wagon pulled by four horses and a very modern shopfront in the 1920′s.

Whilst we are tremendously proud of our enviable past and crucially retain the ethic of personal service, our concentration is on the present and the all important future. This we undertake via constantly updating our services in line with public demand and, crucially, in anticipation of it. We combine the present day public desire for constant change and choice with the now unusual convenience of a true department store. For instance it might be thought to be both convenient but somewhat unusual to find, under one roof: extensive choices of menswear, ladies wear, shoes, gifts, accessories, hosiery, curtains and bed linen.  Needless to say, we at Eve & Ranshaw Ltd., feel that this facility is something from the past that is well worth preserving for the future.  It is, after all a service to the public.

We remain tremendously proud of our history of service to the people of Louth and District, but our feet are firmly rooted in catering for the fashions and needs of the present day, whilst keeping an eye on the future, with its ever-changing demands.

Whatever the future brings, we will face it with confidence, adhering to our principles of quality and personal service.