Marks & Spencer
Founded (1894)
Michael Marks was born in 1859 in Slonim, Russia. Marks had immigrated as a young man to Leeds, England, where he joined a company that employed refugees. Isaac Dewhurst, the owner, employed Marks to sell goods to the surrounding villages. Marks later opened
his penny bazaar stall in Leeds on Kirkgate Market. During the next few years, Marks opened stalls in many other locations around the North West of England. He sold a range of cheap goods all priced at one penny, including hair pins, dolly dyes, and black lead.
In 1894, Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer joined as partners and opened their first store at 20, Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester, England. Tom Spencer, an Englishman was born in 1851. They soon opened a second store in Cross Arcade, Leeds. A new warehouse in Manchester was built in 1897. This store became the centre of a business empire that by then included thirty-six branches. In 1903 Marks & Spencer became a limited company. Unfortunately, Thomas Spencer died in 1905 and two years later Michael Marks died as well.
Upon Marks's sudden death in 1907, his executor, William Chapman, a self-made handkerchief manufacturer, became chairman. Marks's son Simon acquired his first part of the Company’s shares that same year. In 1916, after a bitter litigation between Chapman and Marks, Chapman resigned and Simon Marks became chairman.
Simon Marks, entered into partnership with his close friend Israel Sieff. By then the company had expanded significantly, but more importantly it had survived World War I. The firm's initials M&S now stood symbolically for Marks and Sieff. Sieff’s great contribution to the business was his talent to negotiate direct with manufacturer suppliers, cutting out the middleman and thus delivering unrivalled value and quality to the customer. Under Marks’ and Sieff’s leadership, the business grew into a retail empire. Textiles were first sold in 1926, and food and canned goods in 1931. The famous St Michael trademark first appeared on textiles in 1928. Food was also included in 1941. By 1956, the St Michael brand had replaced all other brands.
During the 1930s, Simon Marks introduced a series of innovations. In 1933, he commissioned Flora Solomon to set up an employee welfare service, which provided pensions, services and camping holidays for its employees. During the next years, new synthetic materials were introduced. In 1934, Marks & Spencer became the first retailer to open its own scientific research laboratory to develop and test new fabrics.
The famous phrase “you can always take it back,” became synonymous with the store. Marks & Spencer’s no-argument exchange or refund policy was introduced in 1953; it was greatly welcomed since at the time there were no fitting rooms. Fitting rooms appeared until the 1970s. Food “see-by dates” first appeared in 1970. Many of their best-known Marks & Spencer food lines were also introduced in the 1970s.
In 1973, the store began selling wine for the first time. In 1986, Marks Spencer introduced furniture in their stores, and in 1988, they became the first British retailer to make a pretax profit of £1 billion. In 1988, they opened their first international flagship store in Hong Kong. In 1999, Marks & Spencer launched their new website, thus, opening a new era in online shopping. Moving into the twenty-first century, they successfully launched a number of branded clothing ranges, including Per Una for women, and Blue Harbour and Autograph for men.
In 1999, Mark & Spencer published a code of practice for global sourcing to improve conditions for workers overseas. In 2007, Marks and Spencer launched their most ambitions ethical campaign to date: the five year, 100-point eco-plan known as Plan A: become carbon neutral; send no waste to landfill; extend sustainable sourcing; help improve the lives of people in our supply chain; and help customers and employees live a healthier life-style.
In May 2008, Marks Spencer introduced a 5p charge per plastic bag, with the profits going to the charity Groundwork UK. Six months later, the result was an astounding 80% reduction in plastic bags and £500,000 raised for charity. Plan A has been welcomed by many concerned with saving the planet.
Today Mark & Spencer is the number-one retailer in Europe with three-hundred and seventy five stores in twenty-nine countries, retailing such diverse commodities as clothing, foods, home goods, and financial services.
