Goldbergs
Encyclopedia
A. Goldberg and Sons plc was a Scottish
retail organisation which, prior to its demise in 1990, had grown from a single Glasgow
store in 1908 to a chain of over 100 outlets.
At the Edinburgh store there was a cafe on the top floor with a roof garden.
in the 1920's..
Abraham Goldberg, was Chairman from 1908 to 1934, when he handed power to his two sons, Ephraim and Michael. Together they brought the company to the stock market and saw the development of the business from the one department store in Glasgow
to the building, by in-house contractors, of the Edinburgh
department store and the beginnings of a small department store chain in central Scotland. From 1970 to 1974 stores were opened in Falkirk
, Ayr
, Paisley
, Kirkcaldy
, Motherwell
, Dundee
, Kilmarnock
, Airdrie
, Dunfermline
, East Kilbride
and Greenock
, with an average salesfloor space of 7500 sq ft (696.8 m²). These sold a range of family fashions, household goods and electrical items. They were scaled-down versions of the main Glasgow
department store.
From 1974 onwards Mark Goldberg, grandson of Abraham, took the position of Chairman. At that time A. Goldberg & Sons was the only Scottish public company with a woman director. In the mid-1970s A. Goldberg & Sons became the first retailer in Europe
to introduce a comprehensive electronic point of sale (EPoS
) system (an IBM
system that was in place until 1987). Until that time all sales transactions were recorded in day-books, an operation which involved having 500 bookkeepers. Not only was the process costly in terms of people employed, it also created large queues in the stores. But the company took its time in choosing its new system.
Goldbergs was a quoted company from 1938 and always had a member of the Goldberg family at its head.By the mid-1980s A. Goldberg & Sons was one of only three Scottish-based retailers still quoted on the Stock Exchange.
to introduce a comprehensive EPoS
system, the system was supplied by IBM
in the mid 1970s.
A visit to the USA by some of the senior executives included discussions with Nat Solomon of the National Retailers Merchant Association. This visit was seen to be a critical one in that the company was seeking a survival strategy due to the increasing costs of the cash-taking system and declining profits.
Solomon's advice was to wait for IBM
to develop a system. Other companies offering cash-taking equipment included Singer. However, Singer's system was an electro-mechanical one while IBM were developing a computerized one. IBM
were instrumental in defining the needs of the A. Goldberg & Sons business and the successful installation enabled BM to enter the European market. At a stroke the labour costs went down and queues in the stores disappeared, and it represented an innovative and opportunistic solution to a serious business problem.
at Blackpool
).
Goldberg's also owned the Schuh
, and Ted Baker chains.
at first sight seems a strange one. Company folklore had it that the seaside resort was chosen because of the influx of Glasgow
and Edinburgh
residents for their annual fortnight's holiday. Nevertheless, the company was again to show its innovative retail approach. Enlisting the help of consultants from the UK and Carol Farmer of the US company, The Limited, a lifestyle approach to merchandising was adopted. Some of the segments identified were "young, sophisticated", "assured" and "reassured". Backed up by market research and consumer panels, the Blackpool store is believed by the author to be one of the first British
attempts at lifestyle retailing.
The directors of the time were, however, disappointed with the Blackpool
store. They are quoted in the Harvard case studies as saying that the new store did not meet the predicted sales volumes. One of the reasons articulated by a number of the seminar executives was that the use of generalist buying teams meant that the buyers did not have a focused approach to the segments identified. By 1981 the turnover from the stores was feeling the impact of the recession.
s with no interest incurred for prompt monthly payment. Otherwise, minimum monthly payments could be made over a period of time thereby incurring interest charges.
Apart from the development of Style, investment continued with the leasing of 61000 sq ft (5,667.1 m²) of warehousing outside Glasgow to become a new central distribution depot.
By 1984, the Stylecard was being used not only in the Goldberg stores, but in a range of other non-fashion outlets such as Kwik-Fit
and the travel agents, A T Mays.
Stylecard was eventually taken over by the Royal Bank of Scotland
.
was acquired by entrepreneurs Vera and Gerald Weisfeld in 1994 and reopened as discount clothes store Weisfelds in a similar concept to their previous business What Everyone Wants. However, this closed in 1999 and the site subsequently fell into dereliction. The building was partially demolished in 2002 following the collapse of an adjacent tenement
due to unstable foundations. The site was acquired by Selfridges
, but plans for the company to build its first Scottish store on the site were shelved in 2007.
As of 2011, there are no current plans for the site and the remains of the building are still standing, despite pressure from Glasgow City Council on Selfridges to release the land for another development.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
retail organisation which, prior to its demise in 1990, had grown from a single Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
store in 1908 to a chain of over 100 outlets.
At the Edinburgh store there was a cafe on the top floor with a roof garden.
History
A. Goldberg & Sons was founded in 1908 by Abraham Goldberg, a Jewish immigrant from Eastern Europe. After starting business on the South Side of Glasgow he moved to premises in CandleriggsCandleriggs
Candleriggs is a street in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is located in the Merchant City area of the city centre.Candleriggs is best known for it being the home of City Halls, a musical venue operated by Glasgow City Council. The old Candleriggs Fruit Market building at the corner of...
in the 1920's..
Abraham Goldberg, was Chairman from 1908 to 1934, when he handed power to his two sons, Ephraim and Michael. Together they brought the company to the stock market and saw the development of the business from the one department store in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
to the building, by in-house contractors, of the Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
department store and the beginnings of a small department store chain in central Scotland. From 1970 to 1974 stores were opened in Falkirk
Falkirk
Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....
, Ayr
Ayr
Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...
, Paisley
Paisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
, Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...
, Motherwell
Motherwell
Motherwell is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, south east of Glasgow. The name "Moderwelt" appears on a map of Lanarkshire made by Timothy Pont some time between 1583 and 1611 and printed in the Netherlands in around 1652, although the settlement was probably little more...
, Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of 44,734. It is the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'...
, Airdrie
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire
Airdrie is a town within North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau roughly 400 ft above sea level, and is approximately 12 miles east of Glasgow city centre. Airdrie forms part of a conurbation with its neighbour Coatbridge, in the former district known as the Monklands. As of 2006,...
, Dunfermline
Dunfermline
Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...
, East Kilbride
East Kilbride
East Kilbride is a large suburban town in the South Lanarkshire council area, in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. Designated as Scotland's first new town in 1947, it forms part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...
and Greenock
Greenock
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
, with an average salesfloor space of 7500 sq ft (696.8 m²). These sold a range of family fashions, household goods and electrical items. They were scaled-down versions of the main Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
department store.
From 1974 onwards Mark Goldberg, grandson of Abraham, took the position of Chairman. At that time A. Goldberg & Sons was the only Scottish public company with a woman director. In the mid-1970s A. Goldberg & Sons became the first retailer in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to introduce a comprehensive electronic point of sale (EPoS
Epos
Epos or EPOS may refer to:* Electronic Point of Sale, technology which enables an efficient recording of the sale of goods or services to the customer* An epic poem, see epic poetry* Epos , a floating library in Norway...
) system (an IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
system that was in place until 1987). Until that time all sales transactions were recorded in day-books, an operation which involved having 500 bookkeepers. Not only was the process costly in terms of people employed, it also created large queues in the stores. But the company took its time in choosing its new system.
Goldbergs was a quoted company from 1938 and always had a member of the Goldberg family at its head.By the mid-1980s A. Goldberg & Sons was one of only three Scottish-based retailers still quoted on the Stock Exchange.
Innovations in EPoS
Goldbergs was the first retailer in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to introduce a comprehensive EPoS
Epos
Epos or EPOS may refer to:* Electronic Point of Sale, technology which enables an efficient recording of the sale of goods or services to the customer* An epic poem, see epic poetry* Epos , a floating library in Norway...
system, the system was supplied by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
in the mid 1970s.
A visit to the USA by some of the senior executives included discussions with Nat Solomon of the National Retailers Merchant Association. This visit was seen to be a critical one in that the company was seeking a survival strategy due to the increasing costs of the cash-taking system and declining profits.
Solomon's advice was to wait for IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
to develop a system. Other companies offering cash-taking equipment included Singer. However, Singer's system was an electro-mechanical one while IBM were developing a computerized one. IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
were instrumental in defining the needs of the A. Goldberg & Sons business and the successful installation enabled BM to enter the European market. At a stroke the labour costs went down and queues in the stores disappeared, and it represented an innovative and opportunistic solution to a serious business problem.
Expansion
These changes signalled a move towards reassessing the business generally and in 1979 the company launched Wrygges, a chain of young fashion stores targeted at the 15-24 year old female. The late 1970s saw a one for three rights issue to fund this development, together with the expansion of the Goldberg department store chain with another three units (two in Scotland, and the first venture in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
at Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
).
Goldberg's also owned the Schuh
Schuh
Schuh is a Scottish high street and internet branded footwear retailer, operating throughout the British Isles.-History:Schuh was established by Founding Director Sandy Alexander in 1981, with a single shop in North Bridge Arcade, Edinburgh. The company became part of the Glasgow-based Goldbergs...
, and Ted Baker chains.
Lifestyle retailing
The choice of BlackpoolBlackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
at first sight seems a strange one. Company folklore had it that the seaside resort was chosen because of the influx of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
residents for their annual fortnight's holiday. Nevertheless, the company was again to show its innovative retail approach. Enlisting the help of consultants from the UK and Carol Farmer of the US company, The Limited, a lifestyle approach to merchandising was adopted. Some of the segments identified were "young, sophisticated", "assured" and "reassured". Backed up by market research and consumer panels, the Blackpool store is believed by the author to be one of the first British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
attempts at lifestyle retailing.
The directors of the time were, however, disappointed with the Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
store. They are quoted in the Harvard case studies as saying that the new store did not meet the predicted sales volumes. One of the reasons articulated by a number of the seminar executives was that the use of generalist buying teams meant that the buyers did not have a focused approach to the segments identified. By 1981 the turnover from the stores was feeling the impact of the recession.
Stylecard
At this time, A. Goldberg & Sons had its own in-house credit arrangements for its customers based on three months credit, plus a 5 per cent discount if the bill was settled at the end of three months. This offering was transformed into the Style credit card which benefited from the large customer base and the new EPoS system. Style was launched at the beginning of 1982 and followed the lines of other credit cardCredit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
s with no interest incurred for prompt monthly payment. Otherwise, minimum monthly payments could be made over a period of time thereby incurring interest charges.
Apart from the development of Style, investment continued with the leasing of 61000 sq ft (5,667.1 m²) of warehousing outside Glasgow to become a new central distribution depot.
By 1984, the Stylecard was being used not only in the Goldberg stores, but in a range of other non-fashion outlets such as Kwik-Fit
Kwik-Fit
Kwik-Fit is a British car servicing and repair company, specialising in tyres, brakes, exhausts, MOT testing, car servicing, air-conditioning recharge, oil changes and windscreen repair. They are the leading fast-fit supplier of tyres in the UK with over 600 Kwik-Fit centres.-History:Sir Tom Farmer...
and the travel agents, A T Mays.
Stylecard was eventually taken over by the Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
.
Demise
Following a failed takeover bid by Blacks Leisure in 1989, Goldbergs went into receivership and ceased trading in 1990 having suffered losses of £10 million. The flagship Glasgow store on CandleriggsCandleriggs
Candleriggs is a street in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is located in the Merchant City area of the city centre.Candleriggs is best known for it being the home of City Halls, a musical venue operated by Glasgow City Council. The old Candleriggs Fruit Market building at the corner of...
was acquired by entrepreneurs Vera and Gerald Weisfeld in 1994 and reopened as discount clothes store Weisfelds in a similar concept to their previous business What Everyone Wants. However, this closed in 1999 and the site subsequently fell into dereliction. The building was partially demolished in 2002 following the collapse of an adjacent tenement
Tenement
A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...
due to unstable foundations. The site was acquired by Selfridges
Selfridges
Selfridges, AKA Selfridges & Co, is a chain of high end department stores in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge. The flagship store in London's Oxford Street is the second largest shop in the UK and was opened on 15 March 1909.More recently, three other stores have been...
, but plans for the company to build its first Scottish store on the site were shelved in 2007.
As of 2011, there are no current plans for the site and the remains of the building are still standing, despite pressure from Glasgow City Council on Selfridges to release the land for another development.
External links
- http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_buildings_g/0_buildings_-_goldbergs.htm
- http://www.stephenpage.com/assets/images/goldbergs/goldbergsedinburghpostcard.png