GIBBS SHOES, YOUR LOCAL FAMILY BUSINESS IN WISBECH, ELY AND SPALDING

 

 

Over a hundred years old and still going strong!

 

The Gibbs family have been renowned for their shoe fitting services to the Fenland community for over a hundred years. Their shops at Wisbech, Spalding, and Ely proudly display their name above the window. A name that is synonymous with mens shoes, ladies shoes and childrens shoes across the Fens.  For one family still to have three independent shoe shops, in a trade dominated by retail chains, is no mean feat and has not been without its hardships. But this success is well established as Gibbs can claim five generations of family members who have been employed in the shoe trade.

 

1908 – First shop opens in Spalding

 

In 1908, George William Gibb, together with his wife and two sons, Frederick William and George Reynolds, moved to Spalding and opened a shop under the name G.W. Gibbs & Sons, selling and making footwear. With the outbreak of the First World War, duty called and Frederick served in France with the Royal Army Flying Corps. During that time his father ran the shop with the help of his son George. In 1920, Frederick returned from the war and the family decided to expand their business. So, Frederick decided to open another shop in Wisbech.

 

1936 – Second shop opens in Peterborough

 

In 1936, Frederick had his sights set on expansion and started a small shop in the centre of Peterborough. Peterborough was growing rapidly, and so did the shop.  Soon it occupied the two stories above the shop as well as the ground floor. One section became a specialist department catering for people with very large feet. It is said that the Fen people were web-footed, and at that time they were catering for ladies with feet up to size twelve and men needing even larger sizes!

 

The family managed to survive those years, but the threat of another war with Germany soon became a reality. A shortage of materials for footwear and rationing made times difficult for the Gibbs’ shops. Indeed, the shops had stopped making shoes by the outbreak of the Second World War, and during its latter years they only did so for people with special needs.

 

1960’s – Peterborough shop compulsory purchased to make way for new shopping centre      

 

In the 1960's, the shop was compulsory purchased for the development of the Queensgate shopping centre, and for a time the family rented a shop in the new shopping centre. Like many small businesses they found the running costs prohibitive and eventually withdrew. The workshop at Spalding finally closed in 1964.

 

Frederick's son Bernard was born in 1928. He married Jean Chamberlain, a girl who hailed from just outside the Fens, in 1957. Jean worked in retail at Harrods in London and was soon bringing that experience to bear in the Gibbs’ shops. Bernard freely admitted that "a woman in the business had a new outlook and fresh ideas".

 

1970’s – Massive change in high street retailing

 

The shoe retail sector certainly needed a new approach in the 1970’s. As Bernard and Jean said, it was a question of survive or die. Many of the large shoe manufacturers were looking to take a cut of the retailers’ market. Clarks shoes opened their own shops in competition with the family retailers and many other manufacturers joined the high street. This new era of footwear retailing decimated the numbers of small family owned shoe shops, but their days would also be numbered, with cheap imports for mens shoes, ladies shoes and childrens shoes finding their way into the supermarkets and multiple stores. The Gibbs family survived those dark days by giving a personal service to their customers and changing their shop layouts. The Spalding shop, for example, has now had seven new fronts since 1908!

 

1980 – Existing footwear business purchased in Ely

 

In 1980, the Ely shop of Legge & Son, boot and shoe-makers, established in 1887, was bought by the Gibbs family. The premises were expanded, and to this day, it remains a landmark in the city, with the name Gibbs & Legge & Son now displayed above the shop door.

 

1995 – New shop established in Wisbech

 

Bernard and Jean had two sons who chose not to come into the business, and neither did their daughter Kate (born in 1961). It seemed that the Gibbs family would not survive as shoe fitters in the Fens. In 1970, Clarks had opened a shop in the new shopping centre in Wisbech. In 1995, Gibbs took the Clarks franchise, with Kate becoming manager in the shop. By this time Bernard was sixty five and thinking about retiring, so Kate decided to join the family firm.  This was wonderful news for her mother and father, as she would be the fifth generation of Gibbs to carry on the family tradition of shoe-fitting. The business was saved for another generation. Eventually the Clarks franchise was sold, as the family decided to concentrate on developing their independent shops.

 

Looking back, many changes have occurred during almost a hundred years of the family’s interest in the Fens. Having studied art and design, Kate was very conscious that to hold their own against the retail chains, the Gibbs shops had to change their image. Shop fronts were redesigned to attract more customers, and once in they were put at ease by the displays and the layout of the interiors. During the war years, empty shoeboxes had been displayed to give the impression that they had lots of stock. Nowadays boxes are in the storeroom and the shelves are filled with shoes. The large retail chains have spent fortunes on these aspects of the trade and the small retailer has had to do the same, but with a limited budget.

 

In the old days all the Gibbs’ shops had male managers, whereas now this work has become a woman’s domain, and a Gibbs woman is at the sharp end. Most mens shoes, ladies shoes and childrens shoes are now sourced more and more from abroad, after many of the large English manufacturers went out of business in the 1980's. Fashions change faster now, and so Kate has to be much faster to react than her forebears. However, there is still a demand for quality English shoes, which account for about 25 per cent of their sales.

 

2008 – Gibbs Shoes celebrate their centenary

 

In 2008 the family celebrated the centenary of their arrival in the Fens.  It could be said that the Fens have been good to them, but it could also be said that they have been good for the Fens. Bernard and Jean have steered the business through good times and bad, and have bought out partners and directors, to keep the family business together. They took up the baton, in their case perhaps a shoehorn, carried it through their years in the business and passed it on to their daughter, who also treasures it. This is what makes a family shop so special.

 

 

 

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