Army & Navy Stores was a department store group in the United Kingdom, which originated as a co-operative society for military officers and their families during the nineteenth century. The society became a limited liability company in the 1930s and purchased multiple independent department stores during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1973, the Army and Navy Stores group was acquired by House of Fraser. In 2005, the remaining Army & Navy stores (the flagship store located on Victoria Street in London and stores in Camberley, and Chichester) were refurbished and re-branded under the House of Fraser nameplate. House of Fraser itself was acquired by Icelandic investment company, Baugur Group, in late 2006, and then by Sports Direct on the 10 August 2018. The Victoria Street department store, trading as House of Fraser in 2019, is situated in the City of Westminster, to the south of St. James's Park. It is the only department store to trade in the locality. Each of its four selling-floors holds a broad range of merchandise including clothing, accessories and cosmetics, furnishing, household and electrical goods. 'World of Food', a new food hall concept in House of Fraser stores (introduced at Birmingham in 2003), was opened on the Ground Floor to coincide with the store's relaunch under the 'House of Fraser' name but has since closed. History The Army & Navy Co-operative Society Ltd. was incorporated on 15 September 1871, being formed by a group of army and navy officers. The aim of the military co-operative was to supply goods to its members at the lowest remunerative rates, and was based on two earlier models – the Civil Service Supply Association and the Civil Service Co-operative Society. The society leased part of a distillery premises in Victoria Street, London which was owned by Vickers & Co, and by February 1872 a store for the sale of groceries was opened on the site. By 1873, the store offered stationery, drapery, fancy goods, tailoring, groceries, a chemist and even a guns department. The store proved too small for the growing business so the founding members rented a house next to their existing warehouse and acquired a further warehouse in Johnson Place. By 1876, the business had again outgrown its premises. They leased more of the distillery from Vickers, closed their warehouse in Johnson Place moving to a new location at Ranelagh Road in Pimlico. The business was now