Part 4: My first “real” business.

Part 4: Salesafe Mare Street, Hackney, E8

The photo above shows a Pizza place, that is the site where my first business SALESAFE electrical retailer was based. Opened in January 1972 - initially for a few months, this new business was actually a partnership between myself and Ed Parry my musician friend. I will return to this later.

The entrance door to the shop was on the right, and at the back was a small office / storeroom. On the left hand side, (just before the office) an open-back wooden staircase led to the first floor. At the bottom of the stairs (badly placed in the centre of the floor) was a lift up “trapdoor” to a small basement area.

The living accommodation was simple. At the top of the stairs a small landing held a sink unit, (that served as both the bathroom & kitchen), there was a toilet on the left and a corridor that led to a fire escape door. Off this corridor were two rooms - one for Edd & Pam and one for me. I had the one near the fire escape and painted it WHITE (including the ceiling). Ed & Pam painted their room BLACK (including the ceiling). There was no floor covering, and we purchased mattresses which were laid directly on the floor. We had no windows to the front of the building, only onto the fire escape yard at the back. All rather Spartan!

First things needed were the: Bank, Burglar Alarm, & Bath-house.

I had credit arranged for the stock, (see Part 3) but no cash for rent, insurance, an alarm system, shop sign, or anything else.

I went to see the manager of the nearest bank - National Westminster - who fortunately was very interested in seeing a new business open in the area, and with no security he offered me a ￡2,000 of overdraft facility!

The burglar alarm could now be ordered, (a foil strip around the glass of the window plus opening detectors on the two doors) again very basic.

The public Bathhouse was a short walk away at Gainsborough Road. The baths were split in two wings, each accommodating 24 baths for opposite sexes. Enough details I think!

So just 5 years after my arrival in London, I was opening my first shop.

The stock arrived, the staff (myself plus assistance from Ed) were ready and the shop opened.

We needed a cash till of course - it really was identical to the one shown below: A look in the till (early in the day) might show say: ￡17 in 1 pound notes, ￡1.07 in silver, 0.06 in copper, and a cheque for ￡8.34 = ￡26.47 in total.

We did well initially, but we were isolated from the main shopping area further up street, and had just a few commercial neighbours. On one side at number 3, a cafe (the owner was Arnold - not “Eddie” as shown on the photo) - we had no transport, so for a small fee, Arnold helped with the delivery of washing machines, refrigerators etc.

On the other side (number 7) was Morris Lerman tailor, (he must have been good - because expensive cars often pulled up to visit him) - then another cafe (greasy Ada’s) and Les Ralph at Williams the printers.

The shop was located where Mare Street joins Cambridge Heath Road, the Regent Canal passes under the road at this point. You may also note in the top photo a railway track passes behind the shops on the top of arches.

We were not at all far from the Hackney Empire Theatre,

Charlie Chaplin, W. C. Fields, Stanley Holloway, Stan Laurel, Marie Lloyd and Julie Andrews all performed there, when the Hackney Empire was a music hall.

Also nearby is the Old Toy Museum - now the Young V&A.

On the whole, the area was very rundown and had a bad reputation. I soon stopped going to the local pubs as there always seemed to be a bar fight. Several of my customers said they were glad of a discount because a family member was “inside”.

The area is well known today as a centre for indoor and outdoor boxing training schools.

In addition to the local “east enders” and true Cockneys (see below), there were a number of delightful Indian / Pakistani families around who were some of my best customers. I remember one chap purchased 3 washing machines in one transaction for delivery to a single house for his extended family.

After a few months, the retail trade slackened off, and I was concerned about paying the suppliers. This led to difficulties with Ed as I did not want to draw much money from the business. Too long ago now to apportion blame, but I felt personally liable to the suppliers. I guess the problem was that I had spent a lot of good times with Ed, but on a single endeavour (music). Living in the same space was different. Apart from knowing his parents lived in knaresborough, Yorkshire, I knew very little about him. We had not clearly established any rules for this business venture. It was however a proper legal partnership.

After a few very difficult (traumatic) weeks (with my solicitors RJ Golland involved), Ed & Pam left in August 1972. I decided then, I never wanted again be in a business partnership. In a limited company you can have a clearer understanding of who is in control. The few words here cannot convey the importance of the moment, and the shock of this joint project collapsing so suddenly. Years of friendship lost in a matter of days!

For several years after this, I was probably rather unreasonable about the level of control I had over the business with my new colleagues.

Quite early on (before this breakup), I found my business contacts (built up whilst at Strydex and Harveysons) would pop in to see how the business was progressing.

Some were willing to sell at wholesale prices - but not under the retail name. So we decided to form Matthew Andrews Wholesale (our middle names) and thereby gain 20% or more off some brands.

We had just printed the initial batch of business letterheads (and order pads) when “the split” occurred in August. These had to be thrown away, and I had a new batch under the name Matthew James Wholesale printed. Ed became aware of this and collected them (supposedly on my behalf) - solicitors again involved to recover these.

Anyway, once this was all resolved, to really benefit from my access to “wholesale rates” I had to buy in larger quantities than I really needed. So I joined a retail buying club I was aware of. The Archway Group members were all well established electrical retailers in north and east London such as David D’Arcy, Parmentier Electrical and Raynes Park Radio . I soon was a regular supplier to the group, with a limited range of products such as Belling where I could buy at list (retail) price less 25% less 27% less 6% and others such as Dreamland, & Burco. Of course I also gained from buying with the group on other items.

To try to stimulate the retail sales I opted to try leaflet drops to the local area to boost turnover and found this really worked.

I could virtually measure IN ADVANCE the next weeks turnover by the simple process of leafleting. I had several 1000s A5 leaflets bulk printed on one side only, and each week I would have 1000 printed on the back with a single item special offer. Then I would personally go out in the evenings and deliver them. In that area of Hackney there are a lot of blocks of flats (quick routes) but also the more upmarket Victoria Park area (slow) - you try walking up and down endless pathways…. I tended to opt for the flats.

It was amazing, no matter what the offer, it always sold, and the footfall in the shop was always higher. If I missed a week (I was a one man band - so no back up at that stage), the turnover would drop like a stone.

Jeff Frankling (who joined me later) now has a business Dor2Dor dedicated to this form of marketing. More about Jeff shortly.

The rest of 1972 was spent expanding the number of wholesale supplier accounts I held. Simultaneously I was increasing the business with the Archway group, and other independent local retailers. I started to have occasional help in the shop from local friends, but this was a period of long hours doing all the things a one man business must do - everything!

Note: 1973 would see unimaginable major changes in the business…. Who could have guessed that just 2 years later we would have in stock:

2,000 vacuum cleaners (40 different models), 400 Freezers, 1,500 Electric Shavers (Braun - Ronson - Philips - Remington), our own exclusive range of automatic washing machines, our own Matthew James range of 10 audio HiFi units, most major brands available and a client list that included the top stores across London.

From 1973 onwards we advertised in the ERT - ERT Trade Magazine for Electrical Retailers - which the majority of electrical retailers subscribed to - and still do!

One of our first adverts was with Super Ser, a Spanish range of refrigerators new to the UK and imported by a company based in Leatherhead, founded by Martin Hardiman. Super Ser were originally manufacturers of Gas Heaters.

Note: Martin also imported the Italjet Motorcycle

I was particularly interested in stocking “new entry” brands like Super Ser that would also support Matthew James via their advertising.

Note: Mare Street of course is in an area where Cockney Slang was spoken

A few examples: Plates of Meat – Feet Loaf of bread – Head

Whistle and flute – Suit (of clothes) Tomfoolery – Jewellery

Many more words and phrases can be found at: https://www.londonxlondon.com/cockney-rhyming-slang/

It is thought that the word Cockney originates from the Norman word for a sugar cake, cocaigne or cockaigne. The Normans called London the ‘Land of Sugar Cake’, and the name has stuck with some variations over the years.

Note: Number 5 Mare Street E8 existed as a premises long before the current Victoria Buildings was constructed. In the records of the PEACHEY FAMILY appears a watchmaker named W Hynam who was based at 5 Mare Street.

Mr Hynams business was exchanging correspondence all over Europe, as can be seen below with St Petersburg and other far flung places. Refer to: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/9f980eb8-7381-41ca-a258-6cd352e0d46f for full details.

In fact Mare Street shows up in records since 1593.

In the Next Issue: Matthew James takes off with Braun from Germany….

Future Issues: Dramatic growth and IMPLOSION

Index: Index of companies mentioned

• Issue One: Floyds of Minehead - Butlins Holiday Camp
• Issue Two: Strydex Ltd - E R Harveysons - A C Automotive
• Issue Three: E R Harveyson, Regent Sound, Interset, Ledco
• Issue Four : Morris Lerman, RJ Goland, The Archway Group, David D’Arcy, Parmentier Electrical, Raynes Park Radio, Super Ser

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