With a stock investment in excess of £5
million at cost under one roof, a state-of-the-art computer system
to regulate processes and a weekly communication system to all
customers - coupled with the will to listen and learn from those
customers and retain the flexibility to respond to change - Marlows
of Leicester is looking confidently ahead to the next millennium.
The company combines the most modern distribution technology with a reassuringly
traditional approach to customer service, and also offers the
widest choice of stylish, high quality, high value footwear.
Hence its reputation as the best in-stock footwear distribution
service in the business.
Marlows was founded in 1921 by Walter Marlow, working out of
small premises in Leicester. Initially he sold laces and shoe
accessories to retailers in the city. From this modest beginning
the business soon moved into supplying shoes, and the company's
customer base grew across the city into Leicestershire and beyond.
Early deliveries were made by bicycle. Later, a motorbike was
in service which allowed new customers to be added along the
route to Walter's favourite holiday resort, Skegness - so ensuring
that the luxury of a holiday would be self-financing.
Sons Leslie & Harold followed in Walter's footsteps and steered the business
through difficult economic and social times to make it a force
to be reckoned with among the numerous wholesalers of the day.
When Walter's grandson Derek became managing director in 1968,
he took over a company that was well organised, well financed
and enjoying a reputation for service and continuity of supply.
The third generation was in agreement with the founder that the
future of the business lay in looking after the retailer's weekly
fill-up requirements.
An unprecedented period of growth and development followed, necessitating a continuous
expansion of the warehousing facility as Derek Marlow enthusiastically
honed and enhanced all aspects of the company's activities.
Then a major fire in 1985 threatened the company's continued existence, destroying
the warehouse and the entire stock, and forcing a move to the
village of Fleckney. Sales director at the time, Louis Conway
said "the company's ability to recover quickly from this
blow was thanks to unbelievable support from our friends, and
particularly generous help from our competitors. Stocks were
secured from here there and everywhere to be dumped on the concrete
floor of the 'new' warehouse. We were back trading up to the
previous year's levels within eleven weeks of the fire!"
Such an achievement would have been utterly impossible without
the help of those friends and competitors - and even more importantly,
without the efforts of the loyal workforce. They had to be bussed
out to the new location, an arrangement which continues to this
day.
A new era for Marlows was underway.
Today, under the managing directorship of Jim Marlow, the forth generation,
Marlows of Leicester is a significant force among the wholesale
fraternity serving the private sector of the footwear retail
trade.
Since the near disaster of 1985, a brand new steel and aluminium warehouse has
been put in place, with suites of offices to complement it. The
company has invested in a new mainframe computer, and the essential
software to support it is being continually updated to ensure
that all aspects of the business are running efficiently. The
attention to detail that has characterised the business from
the beginning continues, as the in-house showroom is being expanded
to accommodate additional styles and to meet more closely the
requirements of today's professional buyers.
It's the latest example of Marlows listening to what its customers want and then
acting on what it hears - a formula which has taken the company
from push-bike to push-button efficiency and a leading role at
the forefront of footwear distribution.
1996
Louis Conway
Sales Director
(Now enjoying life at a far more leisurely pace!)
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©2008
