Customer Service

Yes, if you buy an item online, we can deliver to most addresses within Northern Ireland and the UK Mainland (excluding highlands and Islands). Standard delivery in these zones costs between from only £2.50 for gift vouchers and between £4.00 - £6.99 for products. For very large or very heavy items will cost £15.00. Please allow 3-7 working days for delivery of your goods.

You can also have furniture and large items delivered within 15 miles of our Newtownards store (to selected postcodes), other areas within Northern Ireland may be able to be arranged, please call for details of pricing.

If you are unhappy with any purchase you have made from our store, you may return the item with the original full till receipt for a full refund or an exchange for goods of an equal value up to 28 days after the date of purchase.

If you have no original till receipt but can provide other proof of purchase* we can offer exchange of goods or a Wardens Gift Card at the current sale value of the items purchased.

If you are unable to provide any proof of purchase, regrettably we are unable to offer a refund, exchange or a Wardens Gift Card.

Subject to the exceptions below, exchanges or refunds are available up to 28 days after the date of purchase. We are unable to accept returns of items after this period unless items were unknowingly sold in a damaged or faulty condition.

· Purchases of stock wallpaper are available for refund or exchange up to 14 days after the date of purchase, no more than 2 rolls may be returned. After this 14 day period, we may accept return of wallpapers if there are other rolls in stock with the same batch number. In this instance, only an exchange of goods or Wardens Gift Vouchers is available.

· Some items are excluded from our refund policy such as items which are bespoke, made-to-measure or 'special order' unless they are faulty or damaged. Special order items are considered to be goods which we do not normally keep in stock in our store but have agreed to order for you.

· We cannot accept return of items which are not returned in a saleable condition, unless they are faulty or damaged. We cannot accept return of items which have not been purchased from Warden Brothers.

*Proof of purchase: Gift receipt, bank statement, credit card receipt

This does not affect your Statutory Rights. If you would like further information, please ask a member of staff or alternatively, contact the store on 028 9181 2147 between Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm, Saturday 9am - 5.30pm.

Your personal information may be disclosed to reputable third parties who will help process your online purchases. We require that all such third parties treat your personal information fully confidential and to fully comply with all applicable UK Data Protection and consumer legislation in place from time-to-time. We will not release your personal information to any external company for mailing or marketing purposes unless we have your prior approval. More information can be found in our Privacy Policy.

Wardens Gift Vouchers are available to purchase in store via the China or Weddings Departments, off certain Wedding Lists at the Bride and Groom's request or online. Gift vouchers are valid for one year from the date of issue and can be exchanged against goods from any department. Gift vouchers cannot be used to pay Wardens Customer Accounts but may be used against purchases of special order accounts. Wardens Gift Vouchers should be treated as cash and so Wardens can not accept liability for vouchers which have been lost or stolen and are unable to replace vouchers in these situations. Vouchers which have been forged, tampered with or damaged will not be accepted as valid payment for goods. If you have any further queries regarding Wardens Gift Vouchers, please contact our office on 028 9181 2147 between Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm, Saturday 9am - 5.30pm.

We will only collect your information if you willingly provide it, we will store and use your information to fulfil our contractual obligations with you (e.g. fulfilling orders), if you have provided it with consent to contact you with relevant information (e.g. sending promotional material) or when the use of your information is of lawful legitimate interest to Wardens.

The personal information you could be asked to provide may include your name, address, email address, telephone number and payment card details. While you use Wardens’ website we may collect information about your PC and visits to this website such as the IP address, geographical location, browser type, referral source, length of visit and number of pages viewed to administer the website and improve the website and our services to you. Some of this information is essential to the proper performance of the website, while other information is used for analytical purposes and does not affect the real-time performance of the site (see “Cookies” section for further information).

If you visit this website and place an order with us we have a contractual obligation to complete your order and therefore require your data. In order for us to process your order, we will require you to provide us with your name, postal address, telephone number and email address. A third party secure payment website will collect your card details and process your payment on our behalf. We may also ask for your marketing preferences during this process, giving you the opportunity to opt in to receiving promotional material from us in the future.

If you choose to sign up to receive marketing material from us we will require you to provide us with your name, postal address and/or your email address. Subject to your consent, by means of opting in, or the legitimate interests of Wardens, we will send you marketing material via email or via post. This material will include information about offers, events and promotional material about our products.

We may also collect and use your data if you order with us in-store or over the phone, enter a competition or to fulfil any other contractual obligation with you e.g. the administration of online wedding lists.

We will endeavour not to keep your personal information for longer than required for us to fulfil our obligations.

In order to deliver our services, the information you provide us may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA). These countries may not have similar data protection laws to the UK however when transferring data outside of the EEA we make enquiries to ensure that any party with access to your data has implemented the necessary security and privacy measures to comply with this policy. In addition, we ensure that all personal data is provided with adequate protection and that all transfers of personal data outside of the EEA are lawful and secure as required by the General Data Protection Regulation.

You may withdraw your consent for us to use your data at any time by contacting us by post, email or telephone.

Postal Address
Warden Bros
45-47 High Street
Newtownards
Co Down
BT23 7HS

Email Address
enquiries@wardenbros.com

Telephone Number
(+44) 028 9181 2147

You have the right to request a copy of the personal information about you that we hold.

We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date and you may ask us to correct any personal information about you that you believe does not meet these standards.

Cookies are tiny text files that identify your computer to our server. In order for the website to run as you would expect (e.g. allowing certain web pages to load on your computer) we require that some necessary cookies are collected. These cookies are ‘session’ cookies and expire at the end of your session.

We may also use cookies to monitor the use of this website, these cookies will be used to monitor whether the website has been visited before, the length of time spent on the website, what pages are visited and for how long, your geographical location and referral source.

As well as using essential cookies to allow our site to function normally, non-essential cookies are used to improve the performance of the website by giving us insights into the way the website is used by customers and how it may be changed to better suit the needs of our visitors. Cookies may also be used to help tailor you experience on the website e.g. asking your browser to remember your login details.

You can find out more about cookies on your specific browser by visiting your browser’s help menu. You may also restrict, delete or refuse cookies using this menu. Bear in mind that refusing all cookies will affect your browsing experience as essential information for the running of our website on your device will not be available to us.

We may use Google Analytics to analyse the use of our website. Google Analytics gathers information about website use by means of cookies. The information gathered relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website. Google’s privacy policy is available at: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy.

We ensure that all of your personal and transactional data is protected, being securely stored digitally or in secured storage. We are compliant with all data protection regulations and standards set out by the European Union and UK.

We will never pass on your personal data to third party companies for marketing purposes without your explicit consent. Your personal data may be passed on to reputable third parties who will help process your online purchases and maintain marketing and provision of IT & data processing. All such third parties must treat your personal data confidentially and in accordance with all data regulations imposed by the UK and EU regulatory bodies.

We work hard to ensure that your personal information is treated safely and securely. Whilst we hope that you won’t ever need to, if you have a complaint about our use of your personal data, please provide details of your complaint Mr Keith Irvine, General Manager. We will investigate and reply to all complaints received.

In addition, you also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). For further information please refer to the ICO website.

You are provided with access to this Website in accordance with these Conditions and any orders placed by you must be placed strictly in accordance with these Conditions.

You warrant that:

(i) The Personal Information which you are required to provide when you register as a customer or place an order is true, accurate, current and complete in all respects; and (ii) You will notify us immediately of any changes to the Personal Information by contacting us by e-mail at enquiries@wardenbros.com, or calling us on 028 9181 2147 between Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm, Saturday 9am - 5.30pm. (iii) You agree not to impersonate any other person or entity or to use a false name or a name that you are not authorised to use.

To provide increased value to users of our website, we may provide links to other websites or resources for you to access at your sole discretion. You acknowledge and agree that, as you have chosen to enter the linked website we are not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and do not review or endorse and are not responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for:

(i) The privacy practices of such websites (ii) The content of such websites, including (without limitation) any advertising, content, products, goods or other materials or services on or available from such websites or resources (iii) The use to which others make of these websites or resources, nor for any damage, loss or offence caused or alleged to be caused by, or in connection with, the use of or reliance on any such advertising, content, products, goods or other materials or services available on such external websites or resources

We will take all reasonable care, as far as it is in our power to do so, to keep the details of your order and payment secure, but in the absence of negligence on our part we cannot be held liable for any loss you may suffer if a third party procures unauthorised access to any data you provide when accessing or ordering from the Website. Please see our Privacy Policy for further information.

The steps required to create the contract between you and Wardens are as follows:

-You place the order for your products on the website by accepting the terms & conditions and pressing the ‘Checkout’ button at the end of the checkout process. You will be guided through the process of placing an order by a series of simple instructions on the website.
-We will send to you an order acknowledgement email detailing the products you have ordered. This is not an order confirmation or order acceptance from www.wardenbros.com.
-As your product is shipped from our warehouse we will send you a despatch confirmation email.
-Order acceptance and the completion of the contract between you and us will take place on the despatch to you of the Products ordered unless we have notified you that we do not accept your order, or you have cancelled it in accordance with the instructions in Changing or Cancelling an Online Order.

Non-acceptance of an order may be a result of one of the following:

-The product you ordered being unavailable from stock.
-Our inability to obtain authorisation for your payment.
-The identification of a pricing or product description error.
-You not meeting the eligibility to order criteria set out in the main Terms & Conditions.

Please note that you are entitled to cancel this contract if you so wish under the Distance Selling Regulations, provided that you exercise your right and notify us no longer than 14 days after the day on which you receive the products. Please see ‘Your Rights Under Distance Selling’ for further information.

Each Product purchased is sold subject to its Product Description which sets out additional Specific Conditions related to that Product including, without limitation, terms and conditions concerning estimated delivery dates and times, warranties and guarantees.

We will take all reasonable care to ensure that all details, descriptions and prices of products appearing on the Website are correct at the time when the relevant information was entered onto the system. Although we aim to keep the website as up to date as possible, the information including Product Descriptions appearing on this Website at a particular time may not always reflect the position exactly at the moment you place an order. We cannot confirm the price of a product until your order is accepted in accordance with our Contract Creation Policy. We cannot be held responsible for any limitations of your monitor’s display of colour, texture or detail of merchandise. Images are displayed for illustrative purposes only and we cannot guarantee the image displayed is an accurate representation of the actual product.

The Website may be used only for lawful purposes and in a lawful manner. You agree to comply with all applicable laws, statutes and regulations regarding the Website and any transactions conducted on or through the Website. Wardenbros.com may sell products which are restricted in sale by law. The following laws apply to customers attempting to buy such Gifts:

-Knives (or gifts containing knives) – it is illegal to sell a knife, axe or blade to anyone under the age of 18. -Aerosol Spray Paints – It is illegal to sell aerosol spray paints to anyone under the age of 16.

You undertake to comply with these laws when purchasing such items.

We will not be held responsible for any delay or failure to comply with our obligations under these conditions if the delay or failure arises from any cause that is beyond our reasonable control. This includes shipment delays from suppliers and our store delivery service. This condition does not affect your statutory rights.

We endeavour to present the most accurate and reliable information on our website at all times. However, there may be occasions when some of the information featured may contain incomplete data, inaccuracies or typographical errors. Any errors are wholly unintentional and we apologise if erroneous information is reflected in any product price or product availability. We try to ensure that all pricing is accurate, but occasionally an error may occur and items may be incorrectly priced. If we discover a pricing error has been made, we reserve the right to remove the item from the website. We will not be obliged to supply any item at the incorrect price. We present our information ‘as is’ and make no claims to its accuracy, either expressed or implied. We reserve the right to amend errors or to update product information at any time without prior notice.

Given the unpredictability of the online environment and technology, we do not warrant that the function or operation of this website will be error-free or uninterrupted, that defects will be corrected, or that this site or the server that makes it available will be free of viruses or other harmful elements. Your access to the website may occasionally be restricted or suspended to allow for maintenance or repairs or the introduction of new facilities or services. We shall not be held liable for damages and/or losses of any kind that you may incur from your use of or inability to access our website.

If you are unhappy with any purchase you have made from our store, you may return the item with the original full till receipt for a full refund or an exchange for goods of an equal value up to 28 days after the date of purchase.

If you have no original till receipt but can provide other proof of purchase* we can offer exchange of goods or a Wardens Gift Card at the current sale value of the items purchased.

If you are unable to provide any proof of purchase, regrettably we are unable to offer a refund, exchange or a Wardens Gift Card.

Subject to the exceptions below, exchanges or refunds are available up to 28 days after the date of purchase. We are unable to accept returns of items after this period unless items were unknowingly sold in a damaged or faulty condition.

If your item is damaged or faulty, please ask a member of staff for further information. We cannot accept liability for items which have been damaged in your own care, either in transport or storage. We cannot accept liability for damaged/faulty items without proof of purchase.

· Purchases of stock wallpaper are available for refund or exchange up to 14 days after the date of purchase, no more than 2 rolls may be returned. After this 14 day period, we may accept return of wallpapers if there are other rolls in stock with the same batch number. In this instance, only an exchange of goods or Wardens Gift Card is available.

· Some items are excluded from our refund policy such as items which are bespoke, made-to-measure or 'special order' unless they are faulty or damaged. Special order items are considered to be goods which we do not normally keep in stock in our store but have agreed to order for you.

· We cannot accept return of items which are not returned in a saleable condition, unless they are faulty or damaged. We cannot accept return of items which have not been purchased from Warden Brothers.

*Proof of purchase: gift receipt, bank statement, credit card receipt

This does not affect your Statutory Rights. If you would like further information, please ask a member of staff or alternatively, contact the store on 028 9181 2147 between Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm, Saturday 9am - 5.30pm.

We reserve the right to update or amend these terms and conditions at any time, without giving prior notice. If you breach these terms and conditions and we take no action, we will still be entitled to use our rights and remedies in any other situation where you breach these conditions. If any part of the Conditions shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed to be severable from the Conditions and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any of the remaining provisions of the Conditions. These conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Northern Ireland and England. You agree, as we do, to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Northern Irish and English Courts.

On occasion, some products which you have been placed on your Wedding List may be available ‘to order only’. You will be advised by a member of our Wedding Team if any of the products you have chosen fall into this category. In this instance, once the item has been purchased off your Wedding List, we will then order the item for you.

We will endeavour to ensure that any item added to your Wedding List is available when a guest purchases it (unless it is a ‘to order only’ item – see above). On occasion, it may be possible that items become unavailable. In this instance, a member of our Wedding Team will contact you to advise you of the situation where you may choose an alternative item or remove it from your Wedding List. If the item has already been purchased, you may choose an alternative gift of an equal or lesser value and the difference will be provided in Wardens Gift Vouchers.

We will make every effort to feature an image on the online version of your Wedding List. On some occasions, an image may not be available. We cannot be held responsible for any limitations of your monitor’s display of colour, texture or detail of merchandise. Images are displayed for illustrative purposes only and we cannot guarantee the image displayed is an accurate representation of the actual product.

Your Wedding List may contain products which are restricted in sale by law. The following laws apply to those guests attempting to buy such Gifts: * Knives (or gifts containing knives) – it is illegal to sell a knife, axe or blade to anyone under the age of 18. Your guests undertake to comply with these laws when purchasing such gifts.

We take all reasonable care to ensure that the details, descriptions and prices of items on your Wedding List are as accurate as possible. Items on Wedding Lists are subject to price fluctuations in line with our in store prices on a day-to-day basis. As a result, prices may change between the time you compile your Wedding List and the time a gift is purchased. Your guests will be charged the price available on the Wedding List on the day the purchase is made. If an item displayed on a Wedding List is priced in error, we reserve the right to withdraw the item from sale at that price. An order will be accepted when the goods are dispatched.

If you choose to put items on your Wedding List that are not normally held in stock at Warden Brothers, these are considered ‘Special Order’ Gifts. On occasion, we may require that if these items are ordered into the store and not purchased in part or whole by your guests, the remainder of these items will be purchased by you. You will be notified of any such items before they are ordered for your Wedding List.

Wardens Wedding List Service offers a gift wrapping and delivery service for guests. Large gifts, such as ladders and BBQ’s may not be gift wrapped. The delivery service is free of charge for deliveries within a 20 mile radius of our store, other areas can be arranged on consultation with our Wedding Team. If a guest chooses to leave their gift at our store, our Wedding Team will contact you or your chosen recipient to advise you a gift has been purchased. You can then decide to collect the gift from our store between Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm, Saturday 9am - 5.30pm or you can arrange with our Wedding Team to have your gift delivered to your chosen address. Please note, our drivers are not authorised to leave gifts in an unsecure area (e.g. on a doorstep). You may have more than one drop of your gifts which will not incur any additional cost to either you or your guests.

If you are unhappy with any item which has been purchased off your Wedding List, we will offer an exchange in goods or Wardens Gift Vouchers up to 1 calendar month after the date of your wedding. We are unable to accept returns from Wedding Lists after this 1 month period. You should ensure that all gifts received have been checked for faults or damages within this 1 month period. We cannot accept liability for items which have been damaged in your own care, either in transport or storage. We cannot accept return of items which are not returned in a saleable condition (including any packaging), unless they are faulty or damaged. We cannot accept return of items which have not been purchased from Warden Brothers.

We will not be held responsible for any delay or failure to comply with our obligations under these conditions if the delay or failure arises from any cause that is beyond our reasonable control. This includes shipment delays from suppliers and the free delivery service. This condition does not affect your statutory rights.

We endeavour to present the most accurate and reliable information on our website at all times. However, there may be occasions when some of the information featured may contain incomplete data, inaccuracies or typographical errors. Any errors are wholly unintentional and we apologise if erroneous information is reflected in any product price or product availability. We try to ensure that all pricing is accurate, but occasionally an error may occur and items may be incorrectly priced. If we discover a pricing error has been made, we reserve the right to remove the gift from the Wedding List and contact both you and your guest (if applicable) to inquire whether both parties wish to continue with the item at the corrected price. We will not be obliged to supply any item at the incorrect price. We present our information ‘as is’ and make no claims to its accuracy, either expressed or implied. We reserve the right to amend errors or to update product information at any time without prior notice.

Given the unpredictability of the online environment and technology, we do not warrant that the function or operation of this website will be error-free or uninterrupted, that defects will be corrected, or that this site or the server that makes it available will be free of viruses or other harmful elements. Your access to the website may occasionally be restricted or suspended to allow for maintenance or repairs or the introduction of new facilities or services. We shall not be held liable for damages and/or losses of any kind that you may incur from your use of or inability to access our website.

We reserve the right to update or amend these terms and conditions at any time, without giving prior notice. If you breach these terms and conditions and we take no action, we will still be entitled to use our rights and remedies in any other situation where you breach these conditions. These conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Northern Ireland and England. You agree, as we do, to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Northern Irish and English Courts.

The Wardens Wedding Gift List Service allows a Couple to compile a list of products from our store, including Wardens Gift Vouchers. The list is then made available online and in store for guests to select and purchase a gift for the selected couple. The gift purchased can then be taken by the guest or delivered by Warden Brothers to the Couple as their preference. The Couple have the ability to amend or remove items from their Wedding List up until the date of their wedding. The Wardens Wedding Gift List is available for guests to purchase from when the couple submit their list until the list is closed, approximately 4 weeks after the date of the wedding. Gifts can be purchased online, by phone or in store.

On occasion, some products which have been placed on a Wedding List may be available ‘to order only’. The couple will have been advised by a member of our Wedding Team if any of the products they have chosen fall into this category. In this instance, once the item has been purchased off the Wedding List, we will then order the item.

We will endeavour to ensure that any item added to a Wedding List is available when it is purchased (unless it is a ‘to order only’ item – see above). On occasion, it may be possible that items become unavailable. If the item has already been purchased, the couple may choose an alternative gift of an equal or lesser value and the difference will be provided in Wardens Gift Vouchers. We are under no obligation to inform you if such a substitution should occur.

We will make every effort to feature an image on the online version of the Wedding List. On some occasions, an image may not be available. We cannot be held responsible for any limitations of your monitor’s display of colour, texture or detail of merchandise. Images are displayed for illustrative purposes only and we cannot guarantee the image displayed is an accurate representation of the actual product.

A Wedding List may contain products which are restricted in sale by law. The following laws apply to guests attempting to buy such Gifts: -Knives (or gifts containing knives) – it is illegal to sell a knife, axe or blade to anyone under the age of 18.

You undertake to comply with these laws when purchasing such gifts.

We take all reasonable care to ensure that the details, descriptions and prices of items on a Wedding List are as accurate as possible. Items on Wedding Lists are subject to price fluctuations in line with our in store prices on a day-to-day basis. As a result, prices may change during the purchasing period. You will be charged the price available on the Wedding List on the day the purchase is made. If an item displayed on a Wedding List is priced in error, we reserve the right to withdraw the item from sale at that price.

Items can be purchased online by credit/debit card: Mastercard, Visa, Visa Debit, Visa Electron, Maestro and Paypal. Items can be purchased in store by credit/debit card as before, but also by cash, cheque, Wardens Gift voucher or charge account. Wardens Gift Vouchers cannot be redeemed against the purchase of Wardens Gift Vouchers.

Wardens Wedding List Service offers a gift wrapping and delivery service for guests. Large gifts, such as ladders and BBQ’s may not be gift wrapped. The delivery service is free of charge for guests and couples for deliveries within a 20 mile radius of our store. If you choose to leave your gift at our store, our Wedding Team will contact the couple or their chosen recipient to advise them a gift has been purchased. The couple can then decide to collect the gift from our store or they can arrange with our Wedding Team to have the gift delivered to their chosen address. You may leave a personal message for the couple when you purchase a gift both online or in store. We do not take any responsibility for the contents of messages communicated by you.

When you place an order to purchase an item from a wedding list you enter into a transaction with us. Your order constitutes an offer to us to purchase the selected goods. To meet our commitment to you, we will store your order and the necessary personal details, obtain authorisation from your bank for the payment and we may make certain security checks on your identity and address. Please see our Privacy Policy for further information. An email will be sent to you as an acknowledgement that we have received your order. An order will only be accepted when the goods are dispatched.

When you place an order to purchase an item from a Wedding Gift List, we will send you email confirmation that we have received details of your order if you have ordered online. Your order represents an offer to us to purchase a product, which is accepted and concluded by us when we dispatch the goods. We reserve the right not to accept your order for any reason whatsoever including but not limited to: product availability, pricing errors, payment problems and failure to meet our eligibility criteria set our above.

If for any reason there is a problem collecting payment for your order, we will not be obliged to fulfil your contract. On some occasions, we may be unable to process your order, possibly due to your payment being declined or an unspecified technical error. If you are sure you are using a valid card, please try again with the same credit/debit card or please place another order on our website using a different credit/debit card.

We will not be held responsible for any delay or failure to comply with our obligations under these conditions if the delay or failure arises from any cause that is beyond our reasonable control. This includes shipment delays from suppliers and the free delivery service. This condition does not affect your statutory rights.

We endeavour to present the most accurate and reliable information on our website at all times. However, there may be occasions when some of the information featured may contain incomplete data, inaccuracies or typographical errors. Any errors are wholly unintentional and we apologise if erroneous information is reflected in any product price or product availability. We try to ensure that all pricing is accurate, but occasionally an error may occur and items may be incorrectly priced. If we discover a pricing error has been made, we reserve the right to remove the gift from the Wedding List and contact both the couple and you to inquire whether both parties wish to continue with the item at the corrected price. We will not be obliged to supply any item at the incorrect price. We present our information ‘as is’ and make no claims to its accuracy, either expressed or implied. We reserve the right to amend errors or to update product information at any time without prior notice.

Given the unpredictability of the online environment and technology, we do not warrant that the function or operation of this website will be error-free or uninterrupted, that defects will be corrected, or that this site or the server that makes it available will be free of viruses or other harmful elements. Your access to the website may occasionally be restricted or suspended to allow for maintenance or repairs or the introduction of new facilities or services. We shall not be held liable for damages and/or losses of any kind that you may incur from your use of or inability to access our website.

We reserve the right to update or amend these terms and conditions at any time, without giving prior notice. If you breach these terms and conditions and we take no action, we will still be entitled to use our rights and remedies in any other situation where you breach these conditions. These conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Northern Ireland and England. You agree, as we do, to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Northern Irish and English Courts.

Local farmers would come to Newtownards once a week for the market and to purchase their hardware goods from Wardens. They often brought their wives to the town and so Wardens began keeping a furniture catalogue for the ladies to browse. The original James Warden died only four years after the store was founded and was maintained by his brothers, Robert and George.

Around 1910, Robert’s son, also called James, joined the firm and was left in charge when his uncle died and his father returned to farming. He was 15 years old at the time and ‘James Warden - Home Furnishing, Ironmonger & Hardware Merchant’ became known as ‘The Wee Boy’s Shop’ among locals. Through James’ hard work and vision, he expanded and transformed Wardens to include other departments selling furniture, carpets, fabrics, fireplaces, china, glass and household goods.

James later married and had three daughters. James’ younger brother Frank later joined the company in 1952, James in charge of the Furniture Department and Frank running the China Department. James died in 1975, leaving his daughter Helen to take charge of the business. After Helen passed away in 2019, her daughter Jane took over and continues to run the business.

In 2002, Wardens celebrated its 125th Anniversary and as part of the celebrations, the store ran a competition to find the oldest receipt from the shop. A local farmer came forward with a receipt dating back to the 1890’s, listing 200 weight of iron at 15 shillings, 12lb of chain at 3 shillings and a yard of jack chains at 3 shillings - possibly to repair a farm cart. Another receipt dated 13th August 1898 was discovered and caused much interest. It was addressed to Thomas Andrew Esquire from Comber and was for two pairs of head shears at 6&6 pence. This could have been the same Thomas Andrews who was involved in the design of the Titanic.

Wardens is known not only for customer loyalty but also for the loyalty of the staff. Many of the employees have been with the company from leaving school and remain for the duration of their working lives. Currently the longest serving member in the company has been with Wardens for over 60 years. Recently retired are the company’s two directors; William Warnock and Roy Brown. William joined the company in 1957, later becoming Hardware Manager then Director, retiring in February 2006. Roy joined in 1967 and later became Furniture Manager, retiring in July 2010.

Wardens has become a landmark store in Newtownards due to how it excels in three main areas; personal customer service, the extensive range of high quality products on offer and its ability to change with the times. Chairwoman and owner, Jane Campbell has said: “Customer service is what brings people here and what keeps them coming back. Not only have successive generations of Wardens run the business, but successive generations of customers have shopped here. What sets us apart is that we try to give extra special personal customer service.”