M&Co.

Mackays Stores Limited
Industry Retailing
(Clothing, Homeware)
Founded 1834
Founder Len McGeoch
Headquarters Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland. (head office)
Paddington, London, England (buying office)
Area served
 UK, Continental Europe, and Middle East
Key people
 Len McGeoch (founder) and Andy McGeoch (CEO),[1]
Owner Iain McGeoch (90% shareholding)
Number of employees
 3900 (3500 in-store, 400 split between Inchinnan Head Office & London Buying Office)[2] (2014)
Website www.mandco.com (retail and corporate website)

M&Co. (previously trading as Mackays, company name Mackays Stores Limited) is a Scottish chain store selling women's, men's, and children's clothes, as well as small homeware products. Its head office is in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire,[3] though its main buying office is in London.[2][4] Previously, its head office was at Caledonia House in Paisley.[5]

Established in 1834, the company has been selling clothing for over 50 years. The chain operates over 300 stores and also has an online presence.[6]

History

M&Co shop in Wetherby, Yorkshire
  • 1834 – McGeoch family founds a pawnbroker business in Paisley, Renfrewshire.
  • 1953 – Under Neil McGeoch, the company begins converting pawnshops to clothing stores.
  • 1969 – 50 stores trading. The first store is opened in London, and within a year, a chain of seven stores is purchased, prompting expansion in the south of England.
  • 1970 – Company acquires Ghinns Ltd., extending its retail clothing business in the London area.
  • 1973 – Len and Iain McGeoch take over company from their father and adopt low-priced retail clothing format under Mackays name.
  • Mid-1970s – 100+ stores trading. Head office and warehouse premises are acquired at Caledonia Street, Paisley.
  • 1986 – Company acquires Apparel Affiliates Inc., owner of 140 retail clothing stores in the United States.
  • Mid-1980s – 150+ stores. Mackays becomes one of the first multiple retailers to install full EPOS tills in all stores, allowing the capture of sales data and managing product replenishment. Continued growth with 160 stores in operation by 1985. International ventures are pursued with the purchase of a US company with 120 stores. Benetton stores are opened in Scotland, Ireland and Australia (later all closed).
  • 1990 – Apparel Affiliates is forced to declare bankruptcy, and Mackays exits the US.
  • 1992 – Len McGeoch returns from the United States to resume buying role.
  • 1996 – A store in Poland is opened.
  • Mid-1990s – 220 stores trading. A children's franchise is operated in China, and more stores open in Poland (both now closed).
  • 1998 – Len McGeoch retires following the success of the brand, with Iain McGeoch taking over the family business.
  • 2000 – Fashion sub-brand Kylie launches its teen girl website.
  • 2001 – Iain McGeoch buys out his brother's share of the company. Mackays corporate website is launched.
  • 2003 – The Laroque store chain in Coventry is acquired; a new upscale clothing format, M&Co, is launched.
  • 2004 – Ten new M&Co. stores open featuring ladieswear.
  • 2005 – Company begins converting all 270 stores to M&Co format.
  • January 2006 – 240 Mackays and 30 M&Co. stores operational in Britain.
  • February 2006 – Ladieswear transactional website launched.
  • 2007 – Most stores now converted to M&Co format. First Northern Ireland store opened in Belfast's Laharna Retail Park. Mackays moves to larger headquarters, from Paisley to nearby Inchinnan.
  • March 2012 – The first of several international franchise stores open, beginning with the first of many in Dubai at the Dubai Mall, with further UAE expansion planned.[7]
M&Co shop in a mall in Dubai, UAE
  • August 2012 – Announcement of planned expansion into House Of Fraser.
  • 2013 – More international franchise stores opened, including The Strand Mall (Bulgaria) and Valletta (Malta).

(Info source: Gale Directory of Company Histories: Mackays Stores Group Ltd.)[8]

References

  1. ↑ Nickalls, Amy (6 November 2017). "M&Co to open the store in Hempstead Valley this weekend". kentonline.co.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Company History – M&Co". Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Contact Us". M&Co. Retrieved 1 February 2012. M&Co Web Team Caledonia House 5 Inchinnan Drive Inchinnan Business Park Inchinnan Renfrew PA4 9AF
  4. ↑ "M&Co. – 20 Conduit Place, Paddington, London, W2 1HS". Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "Contact Us". Mackays Stores. Archived from the original on 29 April 2005. Retrieved 1 February 2012. Mackays Stores Ltd Caledonia House, Caledonia Street, Paisley, PA3 2JP
  6. ↑ "Congratulations to M&Co who have risen 349 places in the retail Top 500 websites ranking". tryzens.com. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  7. ↑ Marc-Christian Riebe Retail Market Study 2013, p. 407, at Google Books
  8. ↑ "Gale Directory of Company Histories: Mackays Stores Group Ltd". Gale Directory of Company Histories. Answers.com. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
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