It is easy to miss the stone with its initials M&S high up on the building which includes Expo Lounge, and Holland &Barrett.
A few who do spot it might ponder on how long Marks and Spencer were located here on Wilmslow Road, before moving to their brand-new store just along from the old Police Station.
But that would be to miss that this is a bit of our co-operative past, because this block was one of the chain of shops run by the Manchester and Salford Equitable Co-operative
It was opened on November 29th, 1929, and was one of the eight they opened that year, marking a huge expansion in the idea of co-operative trading across south Manchester, and was a response to the growth in both social and private housing which characterized the years after the Great War.*
And no doubt our store was part of the new look in co-operative retail, which the Manchester Guardian reported, was “something like a revolution in the shop-fitting of Co-operative stores”.**
Out went the “heavy mouldings [and] expanses of somber mahogany”, and instead “the greengrocers radiate attraction from stainless steel baskets on white marble bases [while] the butter and bacon gain a reflected splendour from a background of white vitroline branded with green, and the counter is smooth and shining coloured glass and stainless steel”. Added to which the refrigerator counter is “lit from outside by lights above the glass.”.
It all reads very familiar but must have been an eye-catching departure from what had gone before.
And in other ways the co-op shops in south Manchester along with shopping in general was markedly different when compared to other parts of the city.
A survey conducted in 1934, across six Manchester local government wards, showed very different retail experiences. The six were, Withington, Didsbury, Blackley, Levenshulme, Miles Platting and Medlock Street.
They were chosen for their very different profiles, so while Withington and Didsbury were judged, “mainly residential and middle class”; Blackley and Levenshulme were “lower middle class and artisan” and Miles Platting and Medlock Street were seen as “mainly working class or slum, thickly populated and intersected by busy main roads, with industrial property amongst houses and tenements.”***
Not surprising “another difference between the rough divisions is that in the first the average is one house [often big], one family; the second, one house [often small], one family; the third, one house to one, two, or three families”.
The total number of shops in the six wards was 2,869, with a higher proportion of shops in the “poorer areas”, and these often had a limited range of products when compared to Didsbury and Withington, and had a lower ratable value.
The same shops were likely to be closer to their customers than in the more prosperous areas, and very much like today there was a greater number of fast food or convenience outlets.
So, across the six wards there were 144 shops selling “fried fish and chips, cooled meats and tripe” with the highest number in Medlock Street and Miles Platting.
Likewise second hand furniture dealers and licensed pawnbrokers which are a measure of poverty, were “not found in Withington or Didsbury, and Blackley and Levenshulme could only produce seven, [compared] to Medlock Street where there was 18 second-hand dealers and 29 brokers and Miles Platting has 5 dealers and 17 brokers”.
But on a lighter note the survey discovered that while hairdressers and barbers were more evenly distributed, with the highest proportionate number in Medlock Street with one to every 850 people, compared to Withington which “has one to every 3,000”.
Make of that what you will.****
Location; Didsbury, and Manchester in 1935
Pictures; The M&S shop and Oxfam Shop, Wilmlsow Road, 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
*Ayres Road, Old Trafford, Green End, Burnage, Parrs Wood Road North, Burnage, Warwick Road South, Firswood, Park Estate West, Timperley, Hardy Lane, Chorlton, School Road, Sale
**The Modern Shop, In Manchester, the Manchester Guardian, June 24, 1935
***Manchester Shops, Six Ward Survey Private Trader Predominant, Striking Contrasts, Dorothy Hodge, Manchester Guardian, February 16th, 1934
***To which Dorothy Hodge concluded “the residents of Withington uses the city barber to a considerable extent.”
 |
| The M&S sign, 2020 |
But that would be to miss that this is a bit of our co-operative past, because this block was one of the chain of shops run by the Manchester and Salford Equitable Co-operative
It was opened on November 29th, 1929, and was one of the eight they opened that year, marking a huge expansion in the idea of co-operative trading across south Manchester, and was a response to the growth in both social and private housing which characterized the years after the Great War.*
And no doubt our store was part of the new look in co-operative retail, which the Manchester Guardian reported, was “something like a revolution in the shop-fitting of Co-operative stores”.**
Out went the “heavy mouldings [and] expanses of somber mahogany”, and instead “the greengrocers radiate attraction from stainless steel baskets on white marble bases [while] the butter and bacon gain a reflected splendour from a background of white vitroline branded with green, and the counter is smooth and shining coloured glass and stainless steel”. Added to which the refrigerator counter is “lit from outside by lights above the glass.”.
 |
| The Manchester & Salford Co-op, 2020 |
And in other ways the co-op shops in south Manchester along with shopping in general was markedly different when compared to other parts of the city.
A survey conducted in 1934, across six Manchester local government wards, showed very different retail experiences. The six were, Withington, Didsbury, Blackley, Levenshulme, Miles Platting and Medlock Street.
 |
| Didsbury retailing, 2020 |
The total number of shops in the six wards was 2,869, with a higher proportion of shops in the “poorer areas”, and these often had a limited range of products when compared to Didsbury and Withington, and had a lower ratable value.
 |
| How we ate, 1935 |
So, across the six wards there were 144 shops selling “fried fish and chips, cooled meats and tripe” with the highest number in Medlock Street and Miles Platting.
Likewise second hand furniture dealers and licensed pawnbrokers which are a measure of poverty, were “not found in Withington or Didsbury, and Blackley and Levenshulme could only produce seven, [compared] to Medlock Street where there was 18 second-hand dealers and 29 brokers and Miles Platting has 5 dealers and 17 brokers”.
But on a lighter note the survey discovered that while hairdressers and barbers were more evenly distributed, with the highest proportionate number in Medlock Street with one to every 850 people, compared to Withington which “has one to every 3,000”.
 |
| Fresh food in Didsbury, 2019 |
Location; Didsbury, and Manchester in 1935
Pictures; The M&S shop and Oxfam Shop, Wilmlsow Road, 2020, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
*Ayres Road, Old Trafford, Green End, Burnage, Parrs Wood Road North, Burnage, Warwick Road South, Firswood, Park Estate West, Timperley, Hardy Lane, Chorlton, School Road, Sale
**The Modern Shop, In Manchester, the Manchester Guardian, June 24, 1935
***Manchester Shops, Six Ward Survey Private Trader Predominant, Striking Contrasts, Dorothy Hodge, Manchester Guardian, February 16th, 1934
***To which Dorothy Hodge concluded “the residents of Withington uses the city barber to a considerable extent.”
Really enjoy hearing about the history of the local area. 👏
ReplyDeleteRemember shopping in the Co-op in the 60's. Used to buy my records there.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Blackley in the 60s and remember the Coop well, it was the largest shop at the time and you could still buy loose butter and get your meat sliced. I suspect it wasn't much changed from it's early days. Of course we all had to remember the divi number to get points before they introduced blue stamps to stick in a book.
ReplyDelete