Free learning resources from arts, cultural and heritage organisations.

From Humble Beginnings...

The first Marks’ Penny Bazaar opened in 1884 in Leeds Kirkgate Market. Michael Marks arranged his goods according to price, with one section costing a penny and carrying the slogan 'Don’t ask the Price, It’s a Penny'. This was so popular that he quickly stopped selling anything that cost more than a penny. 

Leeds Market, by Van Jones 1955, oil painting, showing one of the early Penny Bazaar stalls in the 1880s
Leeds Market by Van Jones 1955


In 2013 M&S opened a Heritage Stall in Leeds Kirkgate Market, very close to the site of the original Penny Bazaar.

M&S Heritage stall in Leeds Kirkgate Market
M&S Stall in Leeds Kirkgate Market

 
Penny Bazaar goods
The goods Michael sold included small items like nails, screws, pins, soap, wooden spoons, wool, thread and small toys – anything of good quality which could be bought cheaply and sold quickly.
 
Button Card as sold in the M&S Penny Bazaars
M&S Penny Bazaar Button Card

 
The stalls were very successful, and in 1886 Michael moved into the permanent covered area of Kirkgate Market.
 
Expansion
Between 1903 and 1907 M&S opened 24 new branches, with more than 60 in total by the end of 1907. In 1904 they took eight shop units on a short lease in the newly opened Cross Arcade. Each of the eight units contained a different department; hardware, china ornaments, tinware, toys, fancy goods, stationery, crockery and haberdashery.
 
Black and white photograph of a building with a penny bazaar
M&S Penny Bazaar in Leeds Cross Arcade 1909
 
Penny Bazaar staff
The photo below shows the staff of the Leeds Cross Arcade Penny Bazaar c.1906. Most of the girls employed would start work at the age of 14 (click the image for further details of their wages and working conditions). The first day that the Cross Arcade store opened, takings totalled £75 by lunchtime, but Michael Marks declared that they would not close until they'd taken £100. They managed this by 4pm and had taken £175 by closing time at 8pm.
 
Photo of staff at Leeds Cross Arcade M&S Penny Bazaar c.1906
M&S Staff Leeds c.1906

The artist Van Jones was inspired by an 1898 photo of an actual sales assistant when painting the market stall assistant in his 1955 picture 'Leeds Market'.

Photo of Manchester sales staff 1898.
M&S Staff Manchester 1898
 
Detail from Van Jones' 1955 painting of the Marks' Penny Bazaar
Marks' Penny Bazaar Painting / Laura Cowburn Photo

Lily Berry was employed at the M&S Penny Bazaar in Darlington, initially on three months trial because it was thought she might be too small for the high counters. “She must have grown quickly as she has been there ever since. One of her duties as a junior was to deliver by hand customers' purchases totalling more than 6 shillings; she also took her weekly turn to scrub the shop front, clean the kitchen, burn the rubbish and oil the shop floor. After six years she was promoted to floor supervisor, and in 1938 to the stockroom, where she still reigns. "It has been wonderful to watch the store develop from a small shutter-front affair, with a kitchen where you queued to fry your own lunch, into the present well-equipped building" (1968)”.

Black and white photograph of the outside of a M&S store
M&S Penny Bazaar Darlington 1922

Black and white photograph showing an M&S storefront
M&S Penny Bazaar, Darlington 1926

 

Glossary

Haberdashery - small items for sewing such as buttons, ribbons and zips
Merchandise - any movable goods offered for sale
Hardware - fixtures, equipment, tools and devices for making or repairing objects or structures