We often talk with great pride about how Spicers was established in 1926, but on the anniversary of Spicers Stores opening it’s doors for the very first time we wanted to share a little more of the company’s history.
1st February 1926 was the first day of trading for Spicer’s Stores, 25/29 Stade Street, Hythe, owned by Mr H. Spicer and his son Percy F. Spicer.
With just £117.9.11d worth of stock in the store, the floor to ceiling shelves looked a little bare in the beginning, as did the massive mahogany counters on the left hand side and the provision counter on the right – even the egg basket was empty! However, takings on the first day reached £1.14.0d (that’s £98.26 in today’s money) and it was certainly the start of great things to come. Although the business has diversified a little to the hamper industry it remains local and is still run by a Mr Spicer, albeit Percy’s grandson Ian!
Information taken from the book A Speck of Spice, re-published in 1976 by Robert Spicer to celebrate the shop having been opened for 50 years.