Monthly Newsletter from the Chairman of Atkinsons of Sheffield – Nicholas Atkinson As many of you know, Atkinsons of Sheffield is a 154-year-old, family-run department store based on The Moor, in the centre of the city. Now into the fourth generation, with the fifth in the wings, the store is one of the largest independent department stores in the country, covering 75,000 sq ft on two levels, with 41 departments, three restaurants, and a 400-space car park above the store, with access from Charter Row. I have now been in the business for 54 years. We have built our business on customer service—being pleasant, welcoming, and making our customers feel at home. We would love to meet new customers and show them how we have developed, especially over the last 20 years. Our monthly newsletter aims to give an insight into the business, with some light-hearted rhetoric, to prove we are human! The disastrous Middle East war will cause significant increases in freight charges from the Far East. There are alternatives, such as shipping around South Africa, but the extra time sends costs spiralling, and it becomes a no-win situation. Fortunately, most of our suppliers are English or European, or have sufficient warehousing in the UK. Trading for most retailers has been testing, but with signs of spring and warmer weather slowly arriving, things should start to pick up. Our spring/summer fashions look brilliant on our new fashion floor, and we have already hosted some ladies’ fashion shows, promoted by Peter, who is ex-John Lewis, with great results. Our menswear continues to go from strength to strength, with great names like Superdry, Joules, Jack & Jones, and Barbour. Do come and have a look—you won’t be disappointed. Soon after I started work at Atkinsons, my father, Peter, asked me to open a girls’ boutique within the store. At that time, it was something we did not have. I had previously spent a couple of years working in London—albeit as a trainee accountant in the City—and had done many audits in the East End, which was a haven for young, up-to-date fashion. I could have gone to Manchester to buy stock, but I wanted to bring London’s ideas up to Sheffield first (this was 1973). Having recently returned from travelling overland to Nepal in an old Land Rover, I had seen things like Afghan coats, silver fox hats, leather trousers, and much more. I needed to find an importer to bring these items in, as they were not available in the UK at the time. Whilst the new boutique was being built—and it was fabulous, with round windows, painted models, reflective wallpaper, moving displays, and everything that was “cool”—it was dimly lit, like Biba in London, which I had visited on numerous occasions, where staff were even allowed to smoke whilst on duty! I gathered a great team and took one of them up to London to do the buying. I think we were there for about three days, sifting through the East End rag markets. Marie and I had a ball! We went everywhere—climbing over bales of cloth, meeting trendy people with the John Lennon look—who did everything to help make our dream come true. We were filthy from rummaging around in all sorts of places, but we made some great contacts and sourced stock that wasn’t generally available in Sheffield. For some unexplained reason, my secretary had booked us into a rather posh hotel in the West End, so when we returned each evening, we received some very odd looks—which was hardly surprising! Such good fun—and when we opened, it was unbelievable. The Afghan coats arrived directly from Afghanistan in vast bales, tightly bound by cord and smelling to high heaven! We sold them for £15 and could not get enough. How people put up with them is anyone’s guess, but we did give them a very good shake—and all sorts fell out! Our other best-seller was a ladies’ T-shirt called “Fat Lady”—which I suppose you’re not meant to say these days—but we sold thousands, all to girls. The department had a good run until others copied and stock from abroad became readily available. Still, they were great days with many laughs, and we were ahead of the game—for a while. Christine, my other half, has introduced a new range of shoes this season from Lotus, which have just gone on display and are already selling well. An established, quality brand liked by many. St Ives ladies’ shoes are also back in again—this is already the second reorder this spring and remains one of our best sellers—alongside Crocs for both adults and children. Scarves continue to do very well. Over the last year, we have sold 7,000 units, which tells you just how popular they are. The price is excellent, and the offer of 3 for £13.99 or £5.99 each works well. I have seen similar scarves selling for over £20 each at pop-up Christmas fairs! We now have some new summery scarf squares in store, which we hope customers will like. This season’s selection of Gianni Conti handbags is the best we’ve had for a long time—and as I write this, we’ve just sold another two. Chris and I took some time out last week and stayed in the small village of Egton Bridge, in the Esk Valley behind Whitby, for a few days. The lower part of the village was lovely, with the Egton Estate and walks to Grosmont. It had some amazing pubs for somewhere so small, and the food was excellent—with dishes like fresh moules to start and duck for the main. All good things come to an end, though, and we had to return home to the cats—and to welcome our daughter and her family from London over Easter, which was great. As some of you may know, we are now about halfway through our Home Sale, which ends on the 3rd of May. There are many great deals throughout the store, including 15% off all made-to-order home items such as curtains, furniture, and beds. We have some of the made-to-measure blinds in our own home and can certainly vouch for them. There is also up to 70% off selected home items, so well worth a visit while the offers last. We hope to see you in store soon—it would be lovely to welcome you.
