Marks and Spencer marks its centenary
These images of Marks and Spencer in Croydon are a far cry from the bustling department store which dominates North End today.
The store celebrated its centenary in 2006. The first Croydon shop opened in December 1906 at 7 London Road, with a small area covering 2,000 square feet. By November 1925 a new site had opened at 118 North End.
The department store empire was founded by Russian-born and Polish refugee Michael Marks and Mancunian, Tom Spencer. Marks opened a stall at Leeds Kirkgatc Market in 1884 and by 1893 he teamed up with former-cashier Spencer to open a store in Manchester.
Neither of them lived to see the retail chain grow. Tom Spencer died on 25th July 1905, and Michael Marks on 31st December 1907.
Between 1894 and 1914 Marks and Spencer consisted of stalls and penny bazaars, where all goods were a penny and included buttons, bairclips, cotton, picture books, music sheets, notepads, tins of tacks and small children's toys. However, due to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. the penny price policy was difficult to retain. Prices had to increase over the years resulting in the new five shilling price policy, formally introduced in 1927. In the late 1920s, some clothing and food was introduced. Gloves, basic hosiery, menswear and boots as well as slab cakes, biscuits, nuts, ice cream along with mechanical small toys and books.
By the 1930s, the store had started to stock electricals such as lightbulbs, batteries, electric fires and light shades and by 1935 cafe bars opened up in branches of Marks and Spencer. During the war customers were able to use their ration tokens to pay for food in the cafes. The M&S wartime utility scheme was launched in 1941 where a wide range of clothing was made available along with tinned food and fruit.
After the Second World War, a period of economic growth saw a more varied range of food being introduced and by the 1980s ready-made meals were available!. By 2006 more than 150 organic food products were available, a large selection of clothes and a thriving homeware section.
To celebrate reaching 100, the store was expanded by 1,000 square feet.