It looks a little bit different these days, but this was Newcastle's new Marks & Spencer store when it opened 90 years ago.
It was 1932, and despite being a time when the Great Depression was wreaking economic havoc around the globe (not least on the traditional heavy industries of North East England), the city was enjoying something of a retail boom.
The North Eastern Co-op opened a large department store on Newgate Street that year, while British Home Stores, C&A and Marks & Spencer all set up shop on Northumberland Street. It wasn't Newcastle's first 'Marksie's' - the original tiny Penny Bazaar had opened in the Grainger Market in 1895, and still trades today - but it's the one most of us will be familiar with.
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It was an era of expansion for Marks & Spencer with the new Newcastle store joining more than 150 trading around the UK. At the time, the company - like others - boasted proudly that its policy was to sell 95% of goods that were made in Britain. It also bought 'direct from the manufacturer' with 'all the benefits of price reduction passed on to the customer'. And it insisted that 'satisfaction would be guaranteed', either by refund or exchange if any item did not come up to scratch.
A typical Marks & Spencer store at the time would consist of numerous mini departments with the goods laid out on large separate counters, each one manned by an assistant. One newspaper advert from 1932 listed "ladies' and children's drapery; men's and boys' wear; fancy goods; footwear; household; hosiery; gramophone records; confectionery; toilet; lighting, toys; haberdashery; millinery; china, enamel and aluminium ware; and stationery".
The store today, of course, enjoys a reputation for selling top-quality foodstuffs. The earliest food departments opened around 1931, selling tinned goods, fruit, vegetables and cakes - and by the middle of the decade, cooked meats, pies, sausages, cheese and bacon were also on sale in many stores. In 1935, some stores opened cafes where you could tuck in to the likes of fish and chips, and steak and chips.
The Northumberland Street store has undergone many changes and improvements over the last 90 years. Between 1936 and 1951, it was extended several times. And throughout the 1960s, the store was expanded over four stages growing to 71, 500 sq ft. On June 24, 1963, a self-contained food section was introduced with direct access from Prudhoe Street.
And in 1996, the store became the second largest M&S store in the country after Marble Arch, following the completion of a major redevelopment programme, increasing the sales floor from 72,000 sq ft to 140,000 sq ft, including a new customer restaurant with 300 seats.
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