R & J Templeton Ltd was founded in 1880 by Robert Templeton. R & J Templeton Ltd styled themselves as "Tea Merchants and Cash Grocers". By 1910 the company had built a network of 50 shops (40 of which were in Glasgow), usually they rented corner sites in poor districts. Their key grocery products were "dry goods" - tea, cereals, flour, jams and confectionery.