September 1894, Marks and Spencer opened its first ever shop.
They’d had market stalls in Leeds and Birkenhead before this, but No. 20 Cheetham Hill Road was their first actual shop.
At first, Michael Marks lived above the small shop. The business flourished and they soon opened other shops. In the early days they were called “Marks and Spencer Penny Bazaars” with the slogan being “Don’t Ask the Price – it’s a Penny”.
In 1901, they built a warehouse on Derby Street near to the first shop. This warehouse was the first M&S building built to their own specifications.
Sadly, the two founders of Marks and Spencer never got to see the their business become the retail giant it later did. Thomas Spencer died aged 53 in 1905 and Michael Marks died in Salford, aged 48, in 1907.
