RALPH HALPERN - TOPSHOP - PHILIP GREEN

RALPH HALPERN - TOPSHOP - PHILIP GREEN

 

  I believe that the Arcadia Group and particularly Philip Green should be congratulated on being in the vanguard of young fashion over these many years.

Their consistency of offer is amazing, it being in the forefront of the daily high street changes, nuances and fresh directions.

 

To think that this mighty fashion retailing empire of Arcadia had, as to be expected from this truly entrepreneurial sector, started very humbly in 1901 when a certain immigrant from Lithuania - Moshe Osinsky set up some mens wear shops in Sheffield.

His business drive and knowledge of clothing and cloths enabled him to set up his own manufacturing plants in Leeds and thereby the control of costs and a very solid base from which to expand his retail operation.

  The company name that was ultimately on the fascia of many stores throughout the country  evolved over the early years to that of  Montague Burton.

After the Second World War the government gave all our returning forces a 'demob'(demobilisation) suit all supplied by Montague Burton

Burtons were known for their "50 bob"  /   "50 shilling tailors"

Burtons always seemed to gain the most suitable sites in the high street  no doubt working to the principles of  LOCATION , LOCATION, LOCATION , not by chance I'm sure but this philosophy was adopted by another Leeds based company - Marks and Spencer!!!

In my youth all the Burtons stores had on the first floor above the shops a  snooker/billiard hall/club!! 

As the Burton business flourished and management changed and became an ever stronger force in the high street they flexed their retailing muscle and moved into different format stores including ladies fashion and accessories.

One of these stores was Peter Robinson and in their Sheffield store they piloted a new concept named TOPSHOP. in 1964.

 Ralph Halpern joined Peter Robinson in 1961 as a trainee and ended up running this nascent format of Topshop.

Over the years Topshop blossomed into a national business with stores in most meaningful High Streets and with this ever growing profile Ralph Halpern who had been instrumental in its success moved the retailing empire into a number of strategic mergers and acquisitions with other fashion retailers where all of them had 'a point of difference' thereby not competing.

I worked with Ralph Halpern and his main board Retail Operations Director Tony Colman and Richard Birtchnell ,the Marketing and Advertising Director.

They were great times and fun with their business bubbling away on all fronts

Through an initiative from Ralph Halpern, Topshop were for a few years the sponsors of "MISS WORLD".

 

I attempted to introduce a 'double branding concept' to the then MD of Topshop - Terry Green - where the brand would be permanently linked to a special range/line of the Topshop offer. - it was eventually dropped and lo and behold Terry then became MD of Debenhams.

Fast forward -  Terry made his pile and moved on to Philip Green's burgeoning empire at BhS, then on to Allders in Croydon and finally helped re establish the non food sector of Tesco with not unnaturally an emphasis on fashion.

The Kate Moss initiative  was another marketing coup for Philip Green and I'm sure Philip's tenacity will win the day in the US where for so many other UK brands it's turned out to be a graveyard - GOOD LUCK.

There are Topshop stores in about 30/40 different countries

The pictures depicted in this blog have been selected at random from our ARCHIVES from the mid 80's to 2002

All images used on the Leslie Creasey Blog are from my hand clipped archive documenting 35 years of Style and Design media.  For all enquiries please contact leslie@charismatic-brands.com.