Life before Marks & Spencer - unthinkable, isn’t it? Which is why, 40 years ago today, islanders had cause to rejoice when the legendary purveyor of quality undies came to Guernsey. And four decades and several new shops later, the Creasey family is still making sure we eat and dress the M&S way, as Zoe Ash reports ON FRIDAY 7 April 1967, St Michael came to Guernsey.
And it has been keeping the island’s men, women and children in underwear ever since.
Marks & Spencer clothing took over the ground floor of Creasey’s store - now home of the food department - and its 2,000sq. ft of high street fashion revolutionised island shopping.
And it was a family affair for the Creaseys, with at least two generations involved.
It had been a while in the planning. ‘The first notes in the minutes concerning Marks & Spencer are back in 1965,’ said Tony Creasey, current managing director of the family business.
The franchise moved in to replace the bargain-basement section of the store, in a prime position alongside the quay.
‘Bargain basements were the vogue for department stores in the 1950s. After rationing was relaxed, merchandise became more plentiful, but by the mid 60s they had run their course.’
The directors were looking for something new and St Michael was beginning to export from the UK.
Cue rails of dresses, trousers, sandals and briefs. That was the age of crimplene slacks and cotton frocks and islanders couldn’t get enough of them.
Six new jobs were created for the section. Now, 40 years on, it employs closer to 300 in peak season.
Looking back, Tony should have foreseen how popular the franchise would prove. The Guernsey Evening Press reported that ‘prospective buyers were pouring into the shop to view the new goods’.
‘I can’t remember the actual first day but I do remember helping out just before the opening. It must have been thronging with people because it was so new and exciting for Guernsey,’ said Tony.
The shop sold primarily ladies’, knit- and underwear, with small sections devoted to men and children.
A Guernsey Evening Press photograph shows the familiar ‘St Michael - famous for bras and girdles’ signage around the original Marks & Spencer shop.
‘It was quite a big development for the Town - things were very different back then.’
Five years on, St Michael was well established in the High Street. By then it inhabited two floors of the Creasey’s building, nudging out the store’s own men’s wear floor.
By 1979 the franchise had expanded again with the store extended to a total of four retail levels.
The offices moved to the top of the building, creating an extra floor for the goods everyone had to have.
Just one level of the original Creasey’s department store remained untouched by the franchise - but it wasn’t quite enough. In the same year an off-site storeroom was acquired simply to contain the expanding stock.
‘We were constantly looking for more space because the demand was so high,’ explained Tony.
Four years later, business was still booming. In 1983 the franchise expanded into its first out-of-Town store when a 3,000sq. ft shop was opened on the Bridge. It did well there for 14 years but ultimately closed as a Marks & Spencer store in 1998.
‘It was no longer workable as an M&S. It had outgrown the space and didn’t have the ambiance of a franchise store,’ said Tony.
And still the reshuffling continued. With the purchase of the former W. H. de la Mare building in the Bordage in 1988, the haberdashery section of Creasey’s was relocated to create more space for the growing St Michael empire.It had now claimed all four floors of the High Street store, including the introduction of more homeware.
But islanders were still deprived of one thing without which many couldn’t imagine living today: there still wasn’t the space to expand into food.
The brand had started dabbling in it in the late 60s and early 70s.
‘But it wasn’t something we ever started looking into seriously until the mid 80s,’ explained Tony.
Creasey’s began introducing a small number of lines in 1990, including jams, biscuits and coffee, but nothing that needed refrigerating. It was another year before the food hall opened.
‘The food was always a logistical nightmare. The timing of the boats was critical and the sell-by dates were and still are quite tight.
‘Any delays with the shipping or anywhere along the supply chain were compounded for us because of where we are and resulted in stock having to be thrown away.’
Food deliveries have always arrived daily at 4pm and are on the shelves the following day.
Tony is in an enviable position of having an office with a bird’s-eye view across the harbour - he knows when the delivery is running late.
‘To some extent those risks are still here today but the difference is that the Commodore Clipper is so much more reliable than the old service we had.
One Christmas the boat was running late because of bad weather and people were queuing for their turkeys at 7.30pm on Christmas Eve.
‘It was all hands to the pumps that night.’
Ultimately, though, the problems have been relatively few, with islanders taking to M&S food like starving children. But who could resist? After all, it’s not just food, it’s…
In yet another expansion, the ladies’ wear department moved to Smith Street in the mid 90s when it outgrew its original home. Shortly after that the St Michael brand was dropped in favour of the Marks & Spencer logo.
But by 2000 UK branches of M&S were suffering a major slump in sales and Guernsey was no exception.
The company joined forces with George Davies, Next creator and now designer of the George at Asda range, and launched the Per Una line.
‘We did suffer a decline in sales, as did a lot of the Marks & Spencer stores, but the launch of Per Una marked the beginning of a resurgence of the brand,’ said Tony.
‘It’s now back on song with both ranges for its loyal customers as well as a more dynamic, contemporary range for younger people.’With the general retail side of things on track, the family business again turned its attention to food.
Given the problems associated with parking and conveying heavy bags to cars, an out-of-Town site was an obvious next step. But finding one was another matter.
‘In the late 90s we were unable to find space for further development for the food and it was frustrating,’ Tony explained.
The company looked at a number of places but none came to fruition.
‘In retrospect we were looking for sites that were too big. It was shortly after that the [M&S] food department launched Simply Food.’
The concept was ideal for the island.
‘That was when we realised that we didn’t need this vast hypermarket style unit and were more suited to the smaller outlets,’ Tony said.
Simply Food is, unsurprisingly, one of the biggest earners of the franchise.
The St Martin’s food hall opened in May 2005 and the L’Islet branch, at the former St David’s site, in September.
It seems the people of Guernsey really do love M&S.
Changes are afoot in Marks & Spencer. But it’s nothing to worry about - this is a brand that knows where it’s at. Last year the company launched ‘Look behind the label’, a marketing campaign highlighting Fairtrade goods.
All tea and coffee sold through the store is Fairtrade, as are select clothing lines.
Creasey’s is also staying up-to-date.
The summer will see a reinvestment in upgrading the interior and extending the ladieswear collections.
‘As Marks & Spencer has expanded, particularly in the Middle East, we have been overtaken in scale.’
Tony said the Channel Island franchises had always been and remain important to M&S because of their proximity to the UK.
‘We have to keep up to speed with what’s happening on the high street. Things are constantly evolving and changing and we can’t just sit back,’ Tony explained.
The Markets development is now filling up and this, in turn, is creating more opportunities for UK chains to move in, adding to the pressure of retaining M&S’s traditional High Street crown.
‘We need to be doing our best and are not standing still. We have to be constantly looking forward.’
Article posted on 7th April, 2007 - 12.00am
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