Sock Shop
Encyclopedia
Sock Shop Limited is a British
-based specialist retailer of socks
and hosiery
, founded in 1983 by Sophie Mirman (b.1956) and Richard P. Ross.
, stockings, and socks. With this in mind, Sock Shop outlets were placed for convenience on busy city streets, in train stations, subway stations and at airports. They were small, between 400 and 1200 square feet (111.5 m²), and had no visible doors, which drew passers-by (as many as 1000 a day) into the store. Their stock featured bold colours, dramatic patterns and novelty designs in hundreds of styles. Prices were considered moderate at £0.99 to £24.99 per pair in 1987, with the priciest designs including gold-lace tights.
. She started out as a junior secretary at Marks & Spencer
before applying for the company's management training program. She then became a manager for the Marks & Spencer food department. In 1981, Mirman and her future husband Richard P. Ross became retail directors for a new speciality retailer, Tie Rack
, which sold neckwear and accessories for men. They left in 1983 to launch Sock Shop.
of the Knightsbridge
tube station. Their ambitions were modest, with expectations of eventually having four or perhaps six retail outlets. By 1987, there were 52 stores in the Sock Shop chain and it was one of the fastest growing speciality retailing businesses in Europe. Mirman had become the 188th richest person in Britain, and its youngest millionaire. They were held up as examples of Britain's new entrepreneurial flair in the 1980s.
In November 1987, Sock Shop (recently renamed as a company to Sock Shop International P.L.C) opened three stores in Manhattan
, aiming (as in London) towards walk-by traffic. One of these outlets was at the 42nd Street
entrance to Grand Central Station, the same principle as behind the first British store's placement.
struck, Mirman and Ross discovered that their equity (worth £50 million pounds in 1988) had become valueless, and they were overwhelmed by debts. In 1990, they entered administration and BDO Binder Hamlyn
took over. 58 shops, including 17 US
outlets (14 in New York alone) were closed down, and discussions were entered with interested parties to try and get new funding capital for financing expansion in Europe. Despite the closures, the administrators recommended Mirman be retained in a key role, praising her business acumen.
In August 1990 the business, 85 shops , and the French subsidiary were purchased for £3.25 million (plus an injection of £3.75 million working capital) by a consortium backed by a Scottish fund manager, Murray Johnstone. The company was renamed Sock Shop Holdings. Unsecured creditors and shareholders in Sock Shop International received no money from the sale. The chairman for Murray Johnstone Developments, Fred Dalgarno, blamed the expense of the US operation and over-expansion for Sock Shop's problems. Having shed the burden of their debts, it was planned that Sock Shop Holdings be expanded more cautiously.
Sock Shop Holdings fell back into the administrator's hands a second time after becoming part of the Facia Group, a retail conglomerate of 850 shops and 80,000 employees that collapsed in 1996 with debts of £70m due to the fraudulent actions of its owner, Stephen Hinchcliffe. It was subsequently acquired by the Tulchan Group.
In 2003, Sock Shop (by then reduced to 13 stores across the UK) was bought for £3.9 million by the Birmingham
-based firm of Harris Watson Holdings. The firm collapsed a third time in 2006. The administrators, Poppleton & Appleby, were brought in on January 25, 2006 to try and salvage the dramatically reduced company. This third collapse was attributed to substantial losses as a result of a slowdown in consumer spending and a rise in running costs. In February 2006 following administration it was bought by Osan Ltd which is a subsidiary of Ruia Group
, Greece
, Iceland
, Lebanon
, Jordan
, Malta
, Kuwait
and Portugal
. A few stores remain across the United Kingdom.
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...
-based specialist retailer of socks
SOCKS
SOCKS is an Internet protocol that routes network packets between a client and server through a proxy server. SOCKS5 additionally provides authentication so only authorized users may access a server...
and hosiery
Hosiery
Hosiery, also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also known generically as hose...
, founded in 1983 by Sophie Mirman (b.1956) and Richard P. Ross.
Concept
Mirman said "People should be able to buy socks and stockings as easily as they buy newspapers". She envisioned small shops that only sold women's tightsTights
Tights are a kind of cloth leg garment, most often sheathing the body from about the waist to the feet with a more or less tight fit, hence the name....
, stockings, and socks. With this in mind, Sock Shop outlets were placed for convenience on busy city streets, in train stations, subway stations and at airports. They were small, between 400 and 1200 square feet (111.5 m²), and had no visible doors, which drew passers-by (as many as 1000 a day) into the store. Their stock featured bold colours, dramatic patterns and novelty designs in hundreds of styles. Prices were considered moderate at £0.99 to £24.99 per pair in 1987, with the priciest designs including gold-lace tights.
Founders
Sophie Mirman is the daughter of the famous milliner Simone MirmanSimone Mirman
Simone Mirman was a Paris-born milliner based in London, chiefly known for her designs for the British Royal Family.-Early life:Simone Parmentier was born in Paris on 18 May 1912 to middle-class Catholic parents. She was apprenticed to one of the main Paris milliners of the 1920s and 1930s, Rose...
. She started out as a junior secretary at Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...
before applying for the company's management training program. She then became a manager for the Marks & Spencer food department. In 1981, Mirman and her future husband Richard P. Ross became retail directors for a new speciality retailer, Tie Rack
Tie Rack
Tie Rack is a British-based tie retailer that sells scarves, cufflinks, and many other items of clothing. The stores are often small due to the nature of the product, and as such, are found in airports, railway stations, and shopping centres across the world....
, which sold neckwear and accessories for men. They left in 1983 to launch Sock Shop.
Early years
Mirman felt her customers would prefer to buy stylish hosiery without hunting through department stores, which at the time, dominated the British hosiery market. Due to a lack of willing investors, Mirman and Ross eventually launched Sock Shop with the assistance of a Government loan guarantee program for capital-short entrepreneurs. The first Sock Shop was on the concourseConcourse
A concourse is a place where pathways or roads meet, such as in a hotel, a convention center, a railway station, an airport terminal, a hall, or other space.-Examples:Examples of concourses include:* Meeting halls* Universities* Railway stations...
of the Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of central London. The road runs along the south side of Hyde Park, west from Hyde Park Corner, spanning the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
tube station. Their ambitions were modest, with expectations of eventually having four or perhaps six retail outlets. By 1987, there were 52 stores in the Sock Shop chain and it was one of the fastest growing speciality retailing businesses in Europe. Mirman had become the 188th richest person in Britain, and its youngest millionaire. They were held up as examples of Britain's new entrepreneurial flair in the 1980s.
In November 1987, Sock Shop (recently renamed as a company to Sock Shop International P.L.C) opened three stores in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, aiming (as in London) towards walk-by traffic. One of these outlets was at the 42nd Street
42nd Street (Manhattan)
42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square. It is also the name of the region of the theater district near that intersection...
entrance to Grand Central Station, the same principle as behind the first British store's placement.
Administration
A couple of years later, when recessionRecession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
struck, Mirman and Ross discovered that their equity (worth £50 million pounds in 1988) had become valueless, and they were overwhelmed by debts. In 1990, they entered administration and BDO Binder Hamlyn
BDO International
BDO International is a worldwide professional services network of public accountancy firms, serving national and international clients. Each BDO Member Firm is an independent legal entity in its own country. The network, originally formed in 1963 as Binder Seidman International Group, is...
took over. 58 shops, including 17 US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
outlets (14 in New York alone) were closed down, and discussions were entered with interested parties to try and get new funding capital for financing expansion in Europe. Despite the closures, the administrators recommended Mirman be retained in a key role, praising her business acumen.
In August 1990 the business, 85 shops , and the French subsidiary were purchased for £3.25 million (plus an injection of £3.75 million working capital) by a consortium backed by a Scottish fund manager, Murray Johnstone. The company was renamed Sock Shop Holdings. Unsecured creditors and shareholders in Sock Shop International received no money from the sale. The chairman for Murray Johnstone Developments, Fred Dalgarno, blamed the expense of the US operation and over-expansion for Sock Shop's problems. Having shed the burden of their debts, it was planned that Sock Shop Holdings be expanded more cautiously.
Sock Shop Holdings fell back into the administrator's hands a second time after becoming part of the Facia Group, a retail conglomerate of 850 shops and 80,000 employees that collapsed in 1996 with debts of £70m due to the fraudulent actions of its owner, Stephen Hinchcliffe. It was subsequently acquired by the Tulchan Group.
In 2003, Sock Shop (by then reduced to 13 stores across the UK) was bought for £3.9 million by the Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
-based firm of Harris Watson Holdings. The firm collapsed a third time in 2006. The administrators, Poppleton & Appleby, were brought in on January 25, 2006 to try and salvage the dramatically reduced company. This third collapse was attributed to substantial losses as a result of a slowdown in consumer spending and a rise in running costs. In February 2006 following administration it was bought by Osan Ltd which is a subsidiary of Ruia Group
Current (2006 onwards)
Following the 2006 purchase, Sock Shop has become primarily an internet retailer. It has a corporate network in the UK and franchised operations include CyprusCyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. A few stores remain across the United Kingdom.