Meesons was once a well-known national chain of confectioners and tobacconists in the United Kingdom.The company was founded in the kitchen of a house in Pendleton, Lancashire, in the early 1890s when Mrs Meeson decided to sell her homemade sweets to local children. The company grew rapidly and opened shops in and around Salford and Manchester, and its continued growth meant that a warehouse/distribution centre which doubled as the head office was acquired in Ford Lane. Growth continued steadily until the outbreak of the First World War, by which time outlets were in places such as Wigan, Liverpool, Blackpool and may others.