M&S Company Archive: Store History
Exeter
5 Queen Street/259 High Street/177-8 Fore Street/247 High Street/211-17 High Street
There was a Penny Bazaar in Exeter from 1912. It opened at 5 Queen Street, followed by another Penny Bazaar at 259 High Street. The first store then closed in 1919. The store sold a range of items such as sewing equipment, biscuits, toys, and sheet music. M&S Penny Bazaars sold almost everything for one penny, apart from a few luxury items that had a higher price. The open displays of items on tables and the "Admission Free" sign outside encouraged people to browse, different from most shops at the time where customers had to ask the shopkeeper for goods stored behind the counter.
M&S first began selling clothes and food in the late 1920s. While many other companies at the time were struggling, M&S had such loyal customers, that in the late 1920s and early 1930s the Company was able to expand and develop. Clearly, bigger premises were required to meet the needs of the people of Exeter. On 30 August 1929 a new store opened at 177-8 Fore Street. The store was extended in November 1935 and again in July 1936.
During the war a café-bar was opened in the store, however in the early hours of 4 May 1942 a bomb fell on a furniture shop on the opposite side of the street. The M&S store was completely destroyed.
A new store was opened on 8 November 1951 at 247 High Street. The café-bar closed in 1961, it was one of the last two café-bars still open.
March 1955: A Mrs C. Burgess of Budleigh Salterton wrote to St. Michael News to say that an alarm clock bought at the Exeter store ‘keeps excellent time and goes well’. It was bought to replace another alarm clock bought from the Plymouth store 18 years before which still worked and cost 2/11.
July 1955: The assistant manager of the Exeter store, Frederick Holmes, writes a ‘Calypso’ inspired by the ‘Marks & Spencer Calypso’ written by George Browne, the ‘uncrowned calypso king’.
George Browne’s ‘Marks & Spencer Calypso’:
Chorus:
"Highest Quality, Lowest price, Highest Quality, Merchandise.
Save money Madam, Save money Sir, Economise at Mark & Spencer."
The verse runs:
"Friends don’t throw your money away, with prices high as they are today.
If you want value, then you must stop at any Marks & Spencer shop."
Courteous service and attention, guaranteed satisfaction.
To save money, I would say shop at Marks & Spencer today."
Frederick Holme’s ‘Calypso’:
"Down in Trinidad amongst the bamboo groves,
Or sunbathing in the Caribbean coves,
All the ladies will wear a gay coloured dress
Just like the dupion at M&S!
“Up in tiny Tobago,
See how the native dance to and fro,
As for the next line - you've guessed it right,
Just like our dupion, so bright!
“You may never get to the Coral lies,
Never see passion flower or native smiles,
So the next best thing, give you two guesses,
Is wearing M&S dupion dresses”
September 1955: The Exeter store set up its own version of St. Michael News. On a staff notice board under the title ‘St. Michael News – Exeter Edition’ articles and letters are posted for staff and customers to read. Examples of typical articles include Rita Nichols of Ladies’ Dresses reporting that ‘We have received exciting new bold colours in Dupion Dresses. The styles include the Princess and Empress lines with both set in and cap sleeves.’ Marjorie Walland on Dupion Dresses also noted that after writing a piece about a new design it sold out very quickly.
January 1956: St. Michael News reports that supervisor Mrs. Baglow was given a six-pence by an elderly gentleman who explained: “You see in 1911 I stole some marbles from one of your Penny Bazaars. Funny thing, but I’ve worried about it ever since. I’ve always enjoyed shopping and walking around your wonderful stores and I want to do it with an easy mind!” He then disappeared into the Christmas crowds before anything could be said.
December 1956: An Exeter postman, A.S Budd, complained to his wife Mrs V. Budd that “no socks stand up to a postman’s life”. After she bought him some navy stretch nylon socks from the Exeter store he found that they were still going strong even though he walks 20 miles a day. “Six hundred miles without a hole in my socks” was his claim.
November 1958: The Exeter store installed hairdressing facilities which was reported in the local Express and Echo newspaper. A big story was featured on the paper’s main page with a picture of Shirley Coles having her lunch under the drier and talking to hairdresser Mrs. Coin. The headline read: “The store already has a chiropody, dental and medical service for its staff. What next?”
September 1961: The Exeter store along with the Leeds store both closed the last two café bars.
April 1964: an escalator was installed.
September 1970: The Exeter store chosen to run a ‘Taste the Quality’ event where specially chosen guests from the local community were invited into store to hear the store manager (Brian Leyland at Exeter) talk about the research behind St. Michael products. Five groups visited the Exeter store.
March 1981: Staff at the Exeter store organised an evening of home-made cakes, paintings and fancy goods and made £130 for Riding for the Disabled.
May 1981: the store from 247 High Street to 211/217 High Street. 60 new jobs were created. It was completed after three and a half years’ of negotiations and one and a half years’ building. The new store faces onto three streets. The main entrance is on the High Street, near to historic buildings such as the Guildhall. The High Street corner is topped by the original octagonal dome. Several ‘valuable Roman finds’ found when digging up the site are put on display in the new store.
September 1984: Exeter won the best float award at the opening parade of the Exeter festival. Staff hired a lorry, borrowed a stall from M&S Head Office, hired costumes, made banners and collected goods to fill the stall and their baskets.
July 1986: M&S Exeter football team were runners up in a Paris football tournament organised for the Boulevard Haussmann trophy. The tournament took place over the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend. Thirty-two staff – the team plus supporters – travelled for 12 hours overnight to Paris to play. Exeter lost their first two games but won the next three. Exeter warehouseman Tom Hall set the event up and hoped it would become an annual competition.
September 1986: Another extension to Exeter store.
September 1987: The Exeter store scored a hat-trick of prizes when entering a float in the town’s festival parade. The theme was ‘Exeter Heritage’ and the store designed its float around “Exeter trading through the ages” from Roman times to M&S today. The float was voted Best Commercial Float and was second best in the parade and won the Best Theme award.
October 1987: Exeter staff raised money for Andrew Sumner, a four year old boy who was facing costly trips to Budapest, Hungary, for treatment for cerebral palsy. A bring and buy sale was held by Exeter staff, and was just one event that helped raise £172 towards Andrew’s costs.
March/April 1991: Exeter staff raised £700 for Children in Need through a seven-mile sponsored walk on Dartmoor.
August 1997: Exeter store welcomes its oldest ever customer, Ellen Eveleigh, almost 101, by presenting her with a bunch of flowers
April 1999: Exeter’s deputy food supervisor Sue Kay received an Easter delivery request from a customer in the United States just as the store was closing on Good Friday. A customer from Atlanta phoned the store to arrange a surprise delivery of M&S Easter Eggs for her mother, who lives in Sue’s hometown of Teignmouth. The store could not arrange a delivery in time, so Sue delivered the eggs herself. The customer’s mother was recovering from a broken back and being nursed back to health by his wife, over from the US, so it was a nice surprise for both.
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