We have been established in our Glasgow store for over 60 years now and have recently launched this website and a workwear shop. With the knowledge accrued over the last 60 years and the support of our loyal customers it is our aim to be here for at least another 60 years, so rest assured that we are not some fly by night internet company! We hope to offer something different from the usual DIY megastore, be it the occasional exotic ex-army item or just the personal service you should receive when using our website. Every order we receive is appreciated, we realise you have many choices on the internet and are grateful for your custom. If we didn't provide something different from the bigger sites there would be no point in us doing this so hopefully you should notice our prices are very competitive and our service second to none. Please never hesitate to get in touch with any questions you may have or comments you would like to make. From all the staff at Bill's we would like to thank every customer who has chosen us over the years, here's to another 60 (at least)!

A small history of Bill's Tool Store

The Barras, the Pearson family and Bills Tool Store.

In the 1920’s, the area in Calton where the barras now operates was owned by James and Margaret McIver, who ran a yard renting horses and carts to traders who sold their wares around the centre of Glasgow. As the couple acquired more wealth, they bought more land in the area, including Moncur Street, where they began renting static pitches to traders; it was here that a widowed William “Pop” Pearson, father of eight children, became the first of a long line of Pearsons to have a part in the history of the barras.

Pop spent his time scouring the streets with his older sons, William “Bill”, John “Jack” and Matthew “Bud” looking for anything saleable which could be loaded onto his handcart (barra). The family’s handcart was stored in a shed off Scotland Street on the south side of the river Clyde and had to be pushed to the pitch on Moncur Street, a distance of nearly two miles. All this effort would often make the family less than 6d a day.

With the advent of the depression, the whole family had to work at many different jobs to earn money; Bill worked as a baker, a boilermaker, a coalman and a removal man among other things, eventually joining the royal naval reserves before the outbreak of the Second World War. Around the same time, Bud had opened a shop selling electrical supplies on Eglinton Street.

During the war, Bill did convoy duty in the North Atlantic, on board the destroyer H.M.S. Havelock. The Havelock lead the convoy and provided armed support for the merchant ships, she also regularly picked up survivors from other ships sunk by German u boats. The Navy put a stop to this practice as the rescuing vessel was putting itself at risk by stopping, making them easier targets for attack. In June of 1944 she was involved in the sinking of U-767 by depth charge in the English Channel. Years later, Bill’s wife Lucinda would tell the story of how Bill, a notably hirsute man, left for active duty with a mass of jet black hair but returned on his first leave with all the colour drained from it.

On being demobbed, the brothers returned to civilian life in Glasgow, Bud opening a larger electrical store on the Gallowgate across the road from the old Barrowlands Ballroom and buying property on Bain Street and Moncur Street with Jack. Bud opened Pearson’s Market across several floors of one of the tenement buildings on Moncur Street, renting out stall space to traders. Pop ran a stall there until his death in 1953 at the age of 70. It was in another one of these properties that Bill took his first steps in the tool business, renting a small shop from his brothers and imaginatively naming it “Bill’s Tool Store”. Bill bought his wares at government surplus auctions up and down the country. As quantity was not an issue so long as the price was right, the family home and friends garages were often temporarily filled with all manner of “bargains”

In 1953 Bill’s Tool Store moved into 52 Bain Street, where it still resides today, at that time however, the shop space was separated into two shops by a hardboard wall, Bill’s on one side and an electrical shop run by Jack’s son, (wee) Matt, on the other. Bill’s son William “Val” began helping his father in the shop at a very young age, at weekends and after school. At seventeen however, Val, like many young men, came to believe that he knew better than his father and left to seek his fortune. His search took him to Jersey, where he drove a lorry.

Having failed in his bid to make his fortune, Val returned to Glasgow to work with his father in the shop once more. Still not happy to be working in his father’s shadow, Val opened another Bill’s Tool Store on Cathcart Road. Val thrived on this newfound independence and as time went by took on more responsibility for both shops. He eventually closed the shop on Cathcart road and moved back to Bill’s when wee Matt and his father Jack moved out of 52 Bain Street and down to Moncur Street where they opened Pearson’s Electrical.

A few years later, Bud, who owned the whole tenement above Bill’s, was given a demolition order for the building, as the two top floors had been condemned. Being of a charitable disposition, Bud offered his brother and nephew the chance to buy the whole building for the “bargain” price of £750, adding in verbal small print that they would also have to pay around £10,000 to have the condemned upper portion demolished. Bill and Val decided to accept Bud’s generous offer, opting to keep one additional floor above the shop for storage.

By 1980, Bill was spending increasing amounts of time at home, caring for his ailing wife. Consequently, Val asked his cousin, Jim, to come into the business. Then, in 1984 Val’s son William “Paul” also joined. The shop continued to grow, acquiring the two adjacent properties on Bain Street, these being converted into more storage space. In 1990 Jim left the business, Paul became a partner, Bud’s son “fat matt”, who owned Pearson’s Market above the electrical shop on Moncur Street, joined the business and Val’s wife Jessie helped out as book-keeper. Allan Duff came in as a partner in 1993 after working in the shop for many years part time.

Between 1993 and the present the shop has continued to grow, expanding into importing “Barra Brand” tools from India and China and wholesaling to other retailers throughout Britain and the republic of Ireland, opening a smaller shop next door selling work wear and safety equipment and also starting an internet business at www.billstoolstore.co.uk.

With it’s reputation for excellent prices, huge range of products including many rarely seen and obscure items and friendly, knowledgeable staff, Bill’s Tool Store has continued to defy competition from the large chain stores which have killed off so many other local, family owned businesses.