A BUSINESS ROMANCE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 992, 7 June 1930, Page 10

A BUSINESS ROMANCE

MR. A. W. GAMAGE DEAD INDOMITABLE COURAGE The death of Mr. Albert Walter Gamage, founder of the World-famous store at Holborn, London, which bears hi 3 name, took place at his home at Chesham, Buckinghamshire, on April 5. He was in his 75th year. Mr. Gamage had been ill for some little time, and was unconscious for two days before the end came. His life story was one of indomitable courage which fearlessly tackled and overcame early obstacles, coupled with intelligence and foresight which guided him in his selfexpressed task of ‘ giving the public what it wants.”

Mr. Gamage was the son of a Hereford builder-turner-farmer, and he came to London at the age of fifteen with half-a-crown in his pocket. Already he had worked for two years in drapery shop 3 in the country, and his first London job was in a retailers. After spending some time with Spencer, Turner and Boldero, of Lisson Grove, he determined to know more of the inner workings of his trade,' and so left to try- his chance of engagement in the house of Hitchcock, Williams and Co., the drapers in St. Paul’s Churchyard. He called every day until at last he was engaged in the dress department. Over two years passed by, minor illnesses and reverses had been overcome, and he had risen to higher things when he was taken ill from a bad attack of scarlet fever. This seemed to be a. severe blow to his ambitions. but actually it proved the reverse, for on returning to business his pale and wan condition made him an object of solicitude to the housekeeper. She was a motherly- soul, and the lad in turn helped her in odd little ways during his spare time. One day-, during his luncheon hour, he took her watch to a jeweller in Holborn to be repaired. The jeweller, a talkative man, said that what this district needed was a hosiery shop, and he mentioned that he had a shop to let next door. On his way back young Gamage, fired by imagination and enterprise, decided to take it for himself. The premium of the shop was *IOO, and the rent £220. All the 22-year-old embryo merchant had in cash was £45, plus a bountiful stock of courage. He was joined by a fellow assistant named Spain, and ■with the help—in the shape of a loan —of friends, Gamage Spain were able to open their little shop in Holborn. This was is 1878. When they told their employer that they were leaving he predicted that the “two young fools” would crawl back to him for work in a few weeks' time. Happily this prophecy was unfilled. “Great Oaks From Acorns” The first purchase for the future world-famous store was in the form of wire hair brushes. These were bought from the manufacturers and sold at Is 9d instead of the usual 2s. The shop opened with a window full of them. Inside, the shelves were covered with empty boxes for the lads had no more money to buy stock, and credit -a as bard to get. But along with the brushes was displayed in the window this motto: “Great oaks j from little acorns grow,” and the brushes, which were a novelty and ] cheap, created a mild "sensation” in Holborn, Their first week’s takings were £24, the second week’s £2l, and the third—to their huge delight—£4o. At the end of the first year’s trading they had taken £1,632. this time Gamage was living with his partner in one room at the back of the shop. Their joint weekly food allowance was 12s 6d.

Within a few years both young men had become engaged to be married, and Mr. Spain, suggesting there would not be a, living in the business for two families, offered Mr. Gamage his share. Mr. Gamage bought it for £425, and carried on the fight alone. His slogan was “Be satisfied with small profits,” and he adhered to It throughout his career. “Selling goods at small profits," he once said, “has kept the old customers and has brought new ones to the house.” Success, slow at first, came more quickly as time went on, and the name of Gamage spread further and further afield. He began a new era in advertising, being among the first to use a full-page newspaper advertisement. His 1,000-page catalogue was the first publication of its kind in England. In 1908 the business of Benetfind and Company, of Cheapside, E.C., of which he was chairman, was purchased, and is still carried on as a separate concern.

The latest development of Mr. Gamage’s business is to be seen in the extensive brick and stone building now nearing completion in Oxford Street, W., close to the Marble Arch. The store will have over four acres of floor space. Two y-ears ago Mr. Gamage received a jubilee presentation from his staff of nearly 1,000 employ-ees, a remarkable tribute to the pluck and skill of the young draper’s apprentice of IS7S.