Some shops exist for such a long time that they become part of the public consciousness. Generations of the same family could buy ever-changing tastes in fashions, furniture or foodstuffs at the same place. Often these shops become a local landmark, especially useful when giving directions.  Number 57 Market Street in Atherton is one such building. Although you might be more familiar with it as Quality Save’s or as Select Bargain’s, and if you’re a little older T. Seymour Mead’s. Let’s delve into its history and see what we could’ve been buying there across the last century or so.

A new century and a new building

In 1902 John Rodgers, a 53 year old businessman, submitted plans to Atherton Urban District Council for a new building on the corner of Market Street and Flapper Fold Lane. The plans showed a large two storey building, with stone ornamentation, a mahogany shopfront and windows, and rather excitingly, electric lighting. He was so confident in his new business premises, that Rodgers even offered to widen part of Flapper Fold Lane at no extra cost for the land provided the council flagged the pavements. Naturally, they did not refuse this offer.

The plans weren’t just about a new shop though. For John Rodgers they represented over thirty years of hard work, dedication and honing his skills, and this was his chance to show how well his drapery business was doing through tangible bricks and mortar.

Above: John Rodgers and Sons, 57 Market Street as it looked in 1903. The windows fronted both Market Street and Flapper Fold Lane and were used to showcase all the goods Rodgers supplied. (Source: Drapers’ Record, 1903)

John Rodgers was born in Atherton in 1849. His father, James was a nail maker and his mother, Alice was handloom silk weaver. The 1851 census highlights the impoverished conditions the family lived in. Both James and Alice were working, meaning that their 10 year old daughter Sarah was left to look after her siblings; William aged 4, John aged 2 and Alice aged 1 month. We known this because Sarah’s occupation on the census was recorded as a ‘nurse’.

A decade later, 12 year old John was working as an ‘iron bolt screwer’, and you might be thinking that’s quite a world away from his later occupation as a draper. Unfortunately, it was a career move born out of a tragedy. In 1863 when he was around 14 years old John lost his vision in both eyes as a result of an ‘inflammation’ and for the rest of his life he was blind.

Above: John Rodgers (1849-1925) (Source: Drapers’ Record, 1903)

Whilst he had to give up work in the bolt-making industry, John retrained and became a tea dealer and he flourished in the retail world. From tea dealing he moved into drapery and around 1870 he set up his own drapery business on Market Street with the capital of just half a crown behind him. In 1875 he married Mary Ann Maltby and they had four sons together; Joseph, Thomas, John and James. The family lived above their shop with a servant completing the household. This may have been less about status for the Rodgers family and more about necessity as Mary Ann worked with John in the shop, so she needed help with the domestic side of things.

The business grew more strength to strength through the ‘pluck, determination, and perseverance’ of John. Despite his disability, he developed a highly tuned sense of touch, so much so that customers would ask for his opinion on fabrics and furnishings, despite the fact he could not see them. It was later stated that:

‘Mr Rodgers is well known in the best houses of Manchester as an accomplished buyer of all articles required in conduct of his business […] in his own town his is known for his shrewdness and his business habits.’

In 1902 the old shop at 57 Market Street was demolished and a year later the new one opened. It was 90 feet long by 30 feet wide and the lighting was by Keith and Blackmans of London. The name ‘Rodgers and Sons’ was engraved on the front of the building as a remarkable testament to this family business which now sold: dresses, Manchester goods, linens, men’s outfitting, furnishing, ladies’ outfitting, fancies and well as acting as a house furnishers. There were 17 drapery business in Atherton 1905, but Rodgers and Sons was the largest independent firm. They even decorated Atherton Town Hall and the Drill Hall for special occasions, such as the coronation of King George V in 1911. Photographs of the interior show the rich mahogany and glass counters, bentwood chairs for customers to sit on whilst stock is brought to them, and an elegant staircase to ascend to the first floor.

Above: The ground floor of Rodgers and Sons showing the curtain department. There is a staircase as the back of the photograph. (Source: Drapers’ Record, 1903)

The business continued until John Rodgers retired in 1923, after over 50 years in the business. The family had moved to a house on nearby Stanley Street but he retired to Lytham with Mary Ann. He passed away in January 1925 at the age of 76 and was buried back in Atherton Cemetery.

From Drapery to Groceries

The building was purchased by the firm T. Seymour Mead, commonly known as just ‘Seymour Mead’. It was a chain of grocery shops founded by Thomas Seymour Mead (1841-1898). In the 1850s Mead started as an apprentice of Isaac Burgon on Stretford Road, Hulme, Manchester. He worked hard and won favour with Burgon, but when he was offered a partnership he turned it down, instead going on to form his own shop on the same road in 1861. From there the shops multiplied, and the majority were within a 10 mile radius of Manchester, with the furthest being in Southport. The firm eventually became a limited company in 1894 and it was inherited by Arnold Mead. The business only passed out of the family in 1937 and in a twist of fate the two companies started by Mead and his former employer Burgon were finally merged in 1966, many decades after the deaths of both men who founded them. The group had 215 shops in Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and North Staffordshire. Mrs S. E. Woodward, who managed the Atherton branch at 57 Market Street, and her staff represented just a handful of the 1,250 employees. Seymour Mead’s was a popular shop in Atherton with many today remembering their broken biscuit selection and working their Saturday jobs there.

Above: Market Street in the 1960/70s, showing T. Seymour Mead’s shop in the background. (Source: Archives: Wigan & Leigh)

The building underwent significant changes during this period too. The upstairs was sectioned off as an separate unit in the 1920s and for around 20 years it was used as Atherton’s Masonic Lodge. The façade of the building was altered to reflect the change in business, as Rodgers name was removed and Mead’s name added. Large plate glass windows were bricked up. In the 1960s the building was updated again to fit the styles and tastes of the mid-century. Out went the traditional shop front, mahogany counters and original Edwardian decorative features, which were replaced with plastic, Formica and eventually fluorescent lighting.

The Rise of the Supermarket and Mini-Market

By the late 1970s T. Seymour Mead’s sold the building and in 1978 a supermarket, known as Select Bargains, opened there. If you remember Select Bargains and other little supermarkets in this time, then you would have witnessed and heard about the dramatic changes in shopping in the post-war era. The drapery stores your grandmothers shopped in had long since disappeared from the high street, as ready-made clothes became cheap and easily available. The independent grocery stores, and some chains like Mead’s, favoured by your mothers had started to diminish in numbers too. These were replaced by, or grew into, supermarkets.

The introduction of new technology at home made storing and cooking food easier. Convenience and ready-made meals appeared, and all this reduced the need to shop daily. Many of our kitchen essentials today arrived very slowly into the kitchens of the past. In 1959 just 13% of British households had a refrigerator. In 1985 36% of households had a freezer and in 1989 40% had a microwave.

The other change to the high street at this time was the number of shoppers. Shopping was the domain the woman of the house but by the 1970s more women were working outside the home. Between 1971- 1976  the number of women in employment rose from 55% to 64% and over 40% those women had children. This, of course, was a national statistic, in working-class towns like Atherton women had been balancing paid work alongside household duties for many generations. For example, in 1931 47% of Atherton’s adult women were employed in some form of paid work. What this meant for the high street was certainly less time for shopping and the desire for convenience.

Above: Some of the surviving architectural features on the building include the corbels above the side door and coloured glass above the upstairs windows. A large bricked-up window can be seen on the rear of the building. (Source: Thomas McGrath, 2024)

In 1990s the shop became Quality Save. Quality Save founded by Robert ‘Bob’ Rudkin in Farnworth in 1974. It was supplied by the firm R. J. Morris Ltd, which owned Home Bargain. In the early years of the 21st century, Quality Save was a staple of Market Street. It offered a cheaper alternative to big chain supermarkets such as Tesco or Asda, and it was one of those shops where if you couldn’t find it anywhere, you could guarantee Quality Save’s had it.

After the death of Bob Rudkin at the age of 81 in 2022, R. J. Morris Ltd bought out Quality Save in 2023 and subsequently closed the Atherton branch on 24th September, amongst others. Since then the shop has remained empty, much to the dismay of local residents. Will another enterprising business open here, and will they uncover any surviving features of John Rodger’s original building?

Researched & Written by Dr Thomas McGrath

Above: The building as it looks today (Source: Thomas McGrath, 2024)

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