Museum Makers Choice – S&G Stores Invoices

As part of the Dynamic Collections: Documenting Northern Lincolnshire’s History project, a team of volunteers have been documenting and researching the local history collections. Michael, as well as belonging to the Museum Makers programme, is a member of the Dynamic Collections project team. Michael was interested to learn more about S&G Stores after discovering some invoices in the museum’s collection.

Many locals may remember S & G Stores, which traded in Scunthorpe between 1952 and 1993. S&G stores was a successful furniture shop, and it was set up by two Polish men. Their names were Napoleon Szenher and Michael Gorne. They moved to Scunthorpe after the Second World War. Together with other Polish men, Szenher and Gorne built their first S & G store on the corner of Scunthorpe High Street and Home Street in 1952. For Michael, the story of S&G Stores is a wonderful example of the Polish community to which he belongs, coming together to help one another.

In this video, Michael takes a closer look at some invoices from the collection, and explores the story of S&G stores.

The Dynamic Collections project team chose to shine a spotlight on Napoleon Szenher and Michael Gorne within their Stories from the Stores exhibition, which ran from May to November 2025. More information about S&G Stores can be found on the exhibition page here.