Records of A Goldberg & Sons Ltd, retailers, Glasgow, Scotland

• Memoranda and Articles of Association 1938-1989
• Registers of Members and shareholders 1938-1990
• Shareholders' Minutes 1939-1989
• Directors' Minutes 1962-1970
• Directors' reports and accounts 1964-1989
• Registrar of Companies 1970-1990
• Board files 1979-1990
• Financial records 1961-1984
• Premises Records 1949-1986
• Marketing Records c.1950-1990
• Photographs and slides 1960-1988
• Subsidiary company records (including: Goldberg Retail Limited, Goldberg Properties Limited, Goldberg Developments Limited, Style Financial Services Limited, Brunswick Development Limited, Wrygges Limited, Schuh Limited, Ted Baker (Shirt Specialist) Limited) 1951-1989

In 1908 Abraham Goldberg arrived in Glasgow from Dublin, Eire with his wife and son. He set up as a one man business buying bales of cloth and making them up into piece goods for sale to wholesalers. Originally based in Gorbals, Glasgow, by the early 1920s he had established himself in Candleriggs, Glasgow. The new larger Candleriggs premises allowed him to move into the wholesale business himself and he was later joined in the enterprise by his sons, Ephraim and Michael. In 1938  annual profits reached £51,302 and the firm was incorporated and floated on the stock exchange as A Goldberg & Sons Ltd . By this time the company sold virtually anything and offered favourable credit terms to its account holders. In 1963 the firm opened a second store at Tollcross, Edinburgh and in the late 1960s and early 1970s it acquired the businesses of Room Service (Contracts) and Dansk Mobel Centre. At the same time it also built a new warehouse and office complex at Rutherglen, Glasgow as part of a short lived joint venture with Allied Suppliers for superstores in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The complex was closed and sold in 1975 and the venture with Allied Suppliers ended in 1976. Following these difficulties, the company began to recover and in 1979 it moved into the youth market by launching the Wrygges clothing store brand. Two years later it launched the Style card, a form of in-store credit card and in 1982 it had 1865 staff. The Style card expanded rapidly and could soon be used in outlets, other than just Goldberg's stores. In November 1985 a 60% share in the company's Style Financial Services subsidiary was sold to The Royal Bank of Scotland and three years later the remaining 40% was also bought by the bank. The money from this sale allowed Goldberg's to expand the Wrygges chain and in 1986 it acquired the Mona Lewis business of women's fashion stores trading under the Virgo name. These stores were converted to Wrygges stores and in 1987 Goldberg's added the Schuh shoe brand to their range. In 1988 the company had 150 stores, but it entered liquidation in 1990  . Source: J Webster and A Young, The Goldberg Story: 1908-1988, (Glasgow, 1988).

Arranged chronologically within record series

Some of the materials may be subject to Data Protection

Published accounts and board files : Gift : Mr Michael Marks, former employee (1952-1990) and director (1972-1990) : 1999. The remainder of the materials : Unkown

Digital file level list available in searchroom

No known copies

Fonds level description compiled by Vikki Laidlaw, Hub Project Assistant, 01 March 2006.

Please note this collection does not include records of individual Style Card holders

Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the Archivist.

Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use and condition of documents

This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 248 procedures

Unkown

None expected

No related material

This material is original

Webster, Jack and Young, Alf , The Goldberg Story: 1908-1988. Glasgow : A Goldberg & Sons Ltd  , 1988 .