GUS plc was a FTSE 100 retailing, manufacturing and financial conglomerate based in the United Kingdom. GUS was an abbreviation of Great Universal Stores, the company's name before 2001, while it was also known as the Glorious Gussies amongst stockbrokers. The company started out as Universal Stores, a mail order business created by the Rose family. In 1931, Isaac Wolfson joined the mail order company and would, through a series of takeovers, turn it into a retail, manufacturing and financial conglomerate, becoming Europe's biggest mail order firm and with over 2,700 physical stores. His son, Leonard Wolfson, followed him as chairman, to be succeeded by his nephews David Wolfson (1996–2000) and Victor Barnett (2000–2002). During the 1980s, the business divested much of its physical retail and manufacturing subsidiaries under Leonard Wolfson to concentrate on mail order, property and finance. In October 2006, the company was split into two separate companies: Experian which continues to exist, and Home Retail Group which was bought by Sainsbury's in 2016.
History Universal Stores was founded in 1900 as a mail-order business in Manchester, England by Abraham, George and Jack Rose. A private company, Universal Stores (Manchester) Ltd, was set up to manage the business and the company was incorporated in 1917. In 1930, the company changed its name to Great Universal Stores Limited. The next year it was listed on the London Stock Exchange. At this stage, it was the leading mail order business in the UK, with a single catalogue, Great Universal. A second catalogue, John England, was launched later in 1933. The company set up a chain of department stores in a joint venture with American businessman Charley Nicholls called New Universal Stores.
In 1931, Isaac Wolfson was invited to join the company as merchandise controller after impressing director George Rose at a trade fair in Manchester, accepting no wages in return of share options. The flotation of the company was not a huge success, and with an ill-advised move to London the share price dropped. Wolfson, using money borrowed from his father in law, purchased a large number of shares and became the joint managing director a year later with George Rose, who subsequently resigned in 1934 leaving Wolfson in sole charge. In 1933 the company had made a loss of £55,000, but Wolfson's reorganisation turned this around to a profit of £330,000 in 1934. He was chairman from the late 1940s until his retirement in 1987. Wolfson grew GUS by offering 'A' ordinary shares, which had no voting rights, or by selling the premises and leasing it back. Through his wealth gained at Great Universal Stores, he established the Wolfson Foundation in 1955. By 1983 the company had expanded its range of operations significantly. Catalogue mail order was by far the company's primary business but the company was also engaged in retailing through shops, the manufacture of clothing and household goods, financial services, property investment and travel. Until 1997, GUS had 48 years of consecutive profit growth.
UK mail order catalogues growth
Great Universal acquired Kay & Company Ltd in 1937, and continued to run its catalogue, Kays, as a separate title. Based in Worcester, Kay & Company began life in the 1880s and was an established mail order company at the time of the GUS takeover. Two further mail order firms were purchased in 1938, Trafford Warehouse and Samuel Driver.
After World War II, the expansion of the mail order business restarted with the purchase of Morses in 1947. This was followed by the purchase of the famous mail order business of Pryce Pryce-Jones, The Royal Welsh Warehouse, which was acquired in 1954. The company further expanded the mail order business during the 1960s by buying rivals Bollin House (1961), Dyson and Horsfall (1962) and Chorlton Warehouse (1963).
GUS acquired A & S Henry & Co group in 1971 after a battle with fellow retailing group United Drapery Stores. This group was primarily a group of paper pulp and carpet manufacturing businesses and a mail order unit trading as John Noble. This was followed in 1976 by the acquisition of the retail business of S & U Stores Ltd, a 120 chain store holding company which operated catalogues, Greenbank and Meridien; In 1977 the business of Henry Wigfall & Son Ltd catalogue business of All Yours, Wigfalls at Home and Choice Mail Order were purchased, and in 1981 GUS acquired the John Myers Home Shopping catalogue business from UDS Group plc. All of these mail order businesses became part of the GUS subsidiary, the British Mail Order Corporation Ltd (BMOC) and were run separately from Kay & Company Ltd. However, in 1983 the Monopolies & Mergers Commission vetoed a merger of GUS with rival Empire which GUS had already purchased 36% of the shares in. Two thirds of the shares in Empire was sold to a Dutch company, Vendex, with GUS retaining a 12% holding. UK operations were grown in 1997 with the purchase of most of Arcadia Group's catalogue business, which included the catalogues Innovations and McCord.
European mail order catalogues growth From the 1960s, GUS grew its presence on continental Europe. This started with the purchase of the Wehkamp mail order business based in Holland. This was increased by Swedish catalogue Hallens I. Barrasford which was purchased in 1966 and the Austrian mail order firm Universal Versand in 1968. The last purchase was Verdia in Switzerland, which was purchased in 1982 The Wehkamp catalogue was expanded by its parent company, GUS Holland BV, by purchasing smaller Dutch rival Bertels in 1970, moving into the Belgium and Germany markets and offering separate catalogues selling everything from flower bulbs to furniture and holding a third of the mail order market in Holland. GUS expanded Halens catalogue into the Finnish market in 1997.
Furniture business growth
In 1934, Great Universal started to grow its furniture business by purchasing the Midland and Hackney chains. This was followed in 1943 by the purchase of the Jays and Campbell chains for £1.2 million from its owner Sir Julien Cahn, and British and Colonial Furniture Company in 1945, along with its Cavendish, Woodhouse and Dale chains for £1 million and the manufacturing business of Tyne Plywood Works. Smart Brothers furniture chain was added in 1948 for a further £1 million. In 1946, a Working Party report stated its concerns about GUS purchases: They continued to buy furniture stores, with Oetzmann & Co. purchased in 1954, Godfrey and James Broderick stores added. The biggest name purchased was Waring & Gillows in 1953, however a large share of the business was sold to rival furniture chain "John Peters", run by Manny Cussins for cash and shares in 1960. During 1955, GUS furniture factories were hit by the UK government's restrictions to hire purchase, with Tyne Furniture Works, one of Europe's biggest furniture factory's, having to go on short time due to the fall in orders. In 1957, GUS funded research by the Furniture Development Council into blooming caused by lacquers used on furniture products. In 1968, GUS purchased the combined furniture and menswear group Times-Willerby, adding The Times Furnishing Company to its furniture retail portfolio, while also purchasing the Welsh-based furniture retailer S. Aston & Sons in 1968. During the same year GUS was taken to Court by Cheltenham department store Cavendish House about using the Cavendish name on the former Dale furniture store. In 1985, GUS combined The Times Furnishing Group, and its remaining furniture businesses that had been consolidated under Cavendish-Woodhouse, and branded them under the Times name. The 375 store business was sold to Harris Queensway in 1986, for an exchange of a 20% shareholding in Harris Queensway.
Department stores and Draperies In 1937, Charley Nicholls, the part owner of New Universal Stores sold his shares to Zellers, the Canadian retailer, who took over management of the chain and renamed it Hills & Steele. The business was making a loss and GUS took over management of the business in 1939, but sold it to British Home Stores in 1944. GUS however did not pull out of this market, and went on a purchasing spree. The first bought was Cardiff based store, Leslie Stores and its subsidiaries, John Dyer in Southsea, London House in Newport was purchased in 1940. World War II briefly slowed the growth, but after the war Bainbridges of Lincoln, Lincolnshire & Wisbech was purchased in 1949, quickly followed by J Robb & Co of Belfast in 1951. GUS subsidiary, Kays purchased the Kidderminster store Attwoods, while in 1954 Bladons of Hull and Jones & Higgins Peckham were acquired. The company added Pim Brothers (Dublin) and Darling & Co. Edinburgh in 1955, Ben Evans in Swansea in 1955, Houndsditch Warehouse, Houndsditch, London in 1958 and Beavans in Byker in 1964. Other department stores acquired during this time included Butterfield and Massies of Barnsley, Webbers of Maidenhead, Wickhams and Pyne Brothers both of London. GUS also purchased during this period smaller Drapery Stores, many of which offered credit to their customers. These included W. Brydson & Co of Perth, Evans and Allen of Newport, Garrett & Co of Woolwich, Rees Howell in Glamorgan, R. W. Pritchard in Shepherd's Bush, the Taylor-Nottidge Group which included the subsidiaries: F. Taylor & Sons (Lambeth), J. T. Nottidge (Islington), Gergels (Gravesend), Beck Jones (Lewisham), John Williams & Co (Rotherhithe), Heywoods (Manor Park). The biggest purchase was Penberthys of Oxford Street in 1955.
However the age of the department store and drapery was starting to falter, and GUS sold, closed down or repurposed the stores. Darling & Co. was sold to House of Fraser in January 1961. J Robb & Co was closed in 1973, as was Pim Brothers in 1967, both being rented out by GUS Property before being redeveloped. Jones & Higgins was closed as a department store in 1980, becoming a branch of Houndsditch Warehouse before it eventually closed in 1984, with Houndsditch itself closing in 1986 and being redeveloped by GUS Property as 133 Houndsditch, an office development. Garrett & Co in Woolwich was closed 1972 and replaced by a Times Furnishing store, while the likes of Bainbridges and Butterfield and Massies were converted into Thoms discount stores.
Early Do it yourself stores In 1958, GUS purchased Art Wallpapers, a chain of paint and wall covering stores. The business was grown by adding more stores, as well as purchasing further DIY retailers Great Clowes Discount Warehouse, and Home Charm. By the 1980s the business had 175 stores, but was sold to Harris Queensway in exchange for shares as part of the same deal that Harris had acquired Times Furniture.
Grocery retail business In 1962, the business moved into the grocery business by buying William Cussons, a northern based chain, which operated a further 40 Carline Supermarkets and the high end grocery chain Hodgson & Hepworth in Doncaster. These businesses were sold to Associated British Foods grocery business Fine Fare in November 1968.
Clothing retail After the Second World War, Wolfson expanded GUS into the world of clothing retailing. It purchased the retail chains, Jays of Regent Street in 1946; ladys outfitters Wilsons in 1947 followed by Jax in 1949. During 1954, men's tailoring chain John Temple was purchased along with Rego Clothiers. Two high end retailers, Burberry and The Scotch House were added to the company's portfolio in 1955 along with national chain Weaver to Wearer. Two years later GUS purchased the multiple retailer Morrisons Associated Companies, which included its subsidiaries, Ashley Russell; Audrey; Cliftons; Edgar Allen; Graftons; Irene Adair and Paige. It also added in 1957 the men's tailoring stores of Neville Reed. The following year saw GUS expand its clothing empire by buying the men's tailoring chains of Hector Powe and Hope Brothers (which included subsidiary