In 1856 men's and boy's clothing store Lewis's began trading from 19th century building on the current site.

During the Liverpool Blitz the building was mostly destroyed by bombs, requiring a rebuild which was again taken by Gerald de Courcy Fraser in 1947.

Since the demise of Lewis's the building has been remained vacant apart from with a branch of PureGym currently occupying the basement floor since 2015.

[4] To symbolise Liverpool's resurgence following World War II a statue made by Sir Jacob Epstein of a nude man was added above the building's main entrance.

It is a well-known local meeting place, and was immortalised in the 1962 anthemic song In My Liverpool Home by Peter McGovern: