Jimmy White helping Sheffield department store to avoid being snookered by High Street challenges

A Sheffield department store celebrating its 147th anniversary is determined not to be snookered by the challenges facing the High Street. Chris Burn reports.
Jimmy White recently played snooker at department store Atkinsons to help it celebrate its 147th anniversary.Jimmy White recently played snooker at department store Atkinsons to help it celebrate its 147th anniversary.
Jimmy White recently played snooker at department store Atkinsons to help it celebrate its 147th anniversary.

With Sheffield currently hosting the World Snooker Championships which it has become associated with, visitors to local department store Atkinsons were recently treated to something that was still something of a surprise despite the city’s sporting heritage – much-loved former player Jimmy White taking on all-comers on a full-sized table put up in a corner of the shop to help celebrate its 147th birthday.

Most businesses would wait until they reached the 150th anniversary for such a landmark celebration but bosses thought 147 would be ideal, given it is the number of the maximum break a player can make in a frame of snooker.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It is all part of efforts to ensure that after a glorious past, Atkinsons has a sustainable future in an increasingly difficult time for the High Street in general and department stores more specifically. Debenhams has recently announced plans to close 50 stores, while John Lewis has seen its profit levels plunge recently.

Jimmy White in the store.Jimmy White in the store.
Jimmy White in the store.

As part of the drive to stay relevant and attract a younger audience, the store recently got Sheffield’s popular Lord Mayor Magid Magid to open its new menswear department.

Manager David Cartwright says: “High street retail is facing massive challenges in 2019 and remaining relevant to our customers, how they want to shop or what they want to experience is highly appropriate. That’s why it is a true honour that Jimmy White helped us celebrate such a big milestone.”

John Atkinson opened his first shop in the Moor area of Sheffield in 1872 and the family run-firm has gone on to become the city’s largest independent department store. One of its most notable past attractions was a crocodile that used to reside in the store’s in-house zoo in the 1930s. Early morning staff were horrified to find it had escaped – it was later found dead having fallen down the lift shaft.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The store’s darkest hour came during the Sheffield Blitz in 1940 when it was completely flattened by German bombing. But the support of customers helped it get back into business.Cartwright says: “We lost all the records of the customers who owed us money but we got 90 per cent of the money back from loyal customers coming in and saying what they owed.”

The store was completely destroyed during the Sheffield Blitz.The store was completely destroyed during the Sheffield Blitz.
The store was completely destroyed during the Sheffield Blitz.

Like many people in Sheffield, Cartwright has a close affinity with Atkinsons, having his first job at the store when he was 16 before leaving when he was 18. After a successful career in retail, he returned to become store manager in December 2015 at the age of 54.

In recent decades, the store has faced the challenge of being in what had become a rather rundown part of the city centre.

But the city’s main markets were moved nearby in late 2013 as part of a major redevelopment project, while a new Primark store and cinema have opened nearby recently. Next and H&M are also due to move to The Moor soon – something Cartwright hopes will be good for business.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I have always had a soft spot for the shop because I am a Sheffield lad,” he says. “The company itself deserves full credit for being there for that length of time. The store is an area of the city that had been neglected for a long time and I think a national chain would have given up the ghost.

Atkinsons staff in 1921.Atkinsons staff in 1921.
Atkinsons staff in 1921.

“The next shops coming are H&M and Next and those are the kind of customers we would also like to attract so hopefully it should be we start to get the benefit.”

Cartwright adds: “We know retail is about experiences, not just seeing there is a sale on. We are part of the community and want to get back into people’s minds. While we have the challenges of online, it is about getting people back into the shop. There are still people out there who want a shopping experience. The way we are trying to do it is by being relevant.”