Footwear Retailer of the month Cheryl Taylor talks to Andrew Marshall of Strolling 4 Shoes
Q&A:
Name: Andrew Marshall Shop(s): Strolling 4 Shoes. Keswick, Penrith and Cockermouth
Brands: Rieker, Josef Seibel, Fly London, Gabor, Art, Earth spirit, Heavenly Feet, Camper, Ara
Home Town: Cockermouth Family: Married to Sue for 25yrs. Four sons, Angus who is in the shoe trade, Will & Phil at university and Fraser just finishing 6th form
How did you get into footwear? Tell us about your background and your current business? My grandfather started in the shoe trade in 1904 in the Shambles in Worcester selling work boots. My father came into the business just before the outbreak of the Second World War and really got involved in the business after the war. My parents continued the business until the late 60s when they moved to Herefordshire area and opened a small shop in Monmouth, South Wales. This business grew and grew through the 70s and it was at this point I started working in the shop on Saturdays and Holidays.
From the age of 10 I was destined to be involved in the trade. I can remember visiting the Cafe Royale in London for the K Shoes Range presentation. I left school at 16 with no qualifications and went to work with A Jones & Sons as a trainee. I spent 6 months in various shops all over the country and I still keep in touch with Mr. Johnson from Brompton Rd, London, who taught me so much. After working for the family business for the next 15 yrs my parents retired and I got involved with a number of different projects, all still shoe related. After a couple of years I decided to become a Rep for Tecnic Shoes and subsequently an agent, which is when we moved north to Cumbria. I continued my agency business until 6 years ago when Sue and I decided to open a small shoe shop in the tourist town of Keswick. Six months later we opened in Penrith and now we have 4 shops 2 Internet sites a Warehouse / head office and 22 staff.
Tell us about your shops, the local area, your customers and their requirements? We still have the original shop in Keswick which is tiny, only 30sq metres, but sells an amazing amount of shoes. The first Penrith shop has become our clearance shop and we have a superb full priced shop in the Cornmarket Penrith. Last year we opened a Heavenly Feet department on the first floor of this shop which has worked extremely well. The original Cockermouth shop opened in April 2008, but sadly was devastated by the November 2009 Cockermouth floods where we had 8ft of water right through our shop. We rebuilt the old shop and re-opened it in April 2010. However, it proved far too small, and being a glutton for punishment, we found another shop which needed completely rebuilding. We opened our flag ship store in April 2010 and the shop never ceases to amaze me. It has won awards for its Georgian architectural shop front, two highly Commended Drapers awards and we were the only retail business to reach the finals of the Cumbria Business Awards 2011.
30 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • AUGUS011
MAY 2T 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124