A clothing empire that started in the front room of a Liverpool terrace house became a household name that eventually sold for £122m.
For years, Ethel Austin stores were a common sight on North West and North Wales high streets before the chain's collapse in 2013. The story of the once successful retail giant started with the woman from which the store took its name.
The budget conscious clothing brand was started in 1934 by mother of three Ethel Austin and her husband George. Setting up shop in the front room of their terraced house on Bishop Road in Anfield, Ethel began selling wool and helping neighbours with their knitting.
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With an unexpected £50 windfall from a matured insurance policy, they started the home business encouraging neighbours to "bring your knitting problems to Ethel Austin". Within 18-months, the couple had opened a shop in Walton Village.
The Austin family soon moved from their council house to live in the Walton premises. By 1939, there were three shops and their stock had grown to include drapery, haberdashery and children's clothing.
In the 1950s, Ethel Austin started a mail order service selling knitting wool under the name 'Nitsua' which was 'Austin' spelled backwards. As the business continued to grow, it's reported the family made sure their employees received a share of its profits.
In 1957, they launched a scheme in which a quarter of the firm's annual takings were divvied up among its workers. A family business with the customer and community at its heart, the 1960s that saw the company spread its wings outside of Liverpool.
By 1968, sales had exceeded £1m for the first time and the number of stores had grown to 32. The 1970s saw the clothing company expand its range selling household textiles, sheets, towels and duvets.
With the fashion side of the business catering for babies, young children and women, it wasn't until the 1980s that a menswear section was introduced. The company was now also stocking nursery wear, playpens, cots, high chairs and baby accessories.
It was also in the 1980s that sales for the company topped £10m running 55 stores that had extended into Rochdale, Crewe, Rhyl and Blackpool. Sadly, only a few years after Ethel and George celebrated the business' 50th anniversary George died, closely followed by Ethel who died in 1989 aged 88.
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In the year of Ethel's death the couple's son, Ronald, was in charge and the company was stronger than ever with an annual turnover of around £50m and 100 stores. Two years after Ronald's death in 2000, the Austin family sold the business for £55m.
Astonishingly, in June 2004, the business was sold again for £122.4m. Despite being sold for a huge sum, it was during the early noughties that saw the company run into stiff competition and financial problems.
There were new kids on the block offering high street fashion at low prices, as well as supermarkets like Asda introducing their own budget clothing ranges. They were targeting the younger end of the market offering trendier fashions for the same price or less.
Still with over 300 stores, the retailer attempted to appeal to a more fashion conscious audience. Ethel Austin ran new TV adverts in 2007 using the BodyRockers song 'I Like the Way (You Move)' as part of their rebrand which introduced a new, trendier clothing line.
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But with the expensive relaunch of Ethel Austin's image failing to bring in the buyers, while ostracising its traditional customer base, the company was in trouble. Former ECHO columnist Susan Lee, who grew up shopping at Ethel Austin, wrote in 2010: "[Ethel Austin] were never trend setters; there were never many styles in there that came straight from the Milan catwalks.
"But there was good value and good quality too. Ethel’s knew its market – mums, pensioners, schoolkids – and served them well.
"Then times changed. Fast fashion became the new buzz phrase and it wasn’t enough to be the place for flannelette nighties and sturdy knickers.
"Trendy lines were introduced and the younger end of the market targeted. Just one problem.
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"Places like Primark and George and Tesco did it better and for the same price or less. The former indispensable Ethel’s, which has ridden the storms of the last 70 years, simply stopped understanding who its customers were."
After the recession hit in 2008, the company went into administration three times before the brand was bought again in 2012 with only 32 remaining stores. In January 2013, the company declared insolvency and closed all of the remaining stores, effectively ending the Ethel Austin's brand after nearly 80-years.
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