Past Times

As its name suggests, its stock in trade is nostalgia. Enter any one of its 108 outlets and you enter a sort of comfort zone of teddy bears, Beatrix Potter, Flower Fairies and books about VW Beetles and old-style Minis, reminiscent of a clockwork, pre-computer age.

But mock not. There is money in memories, and it seems many of us want to make a present of the past when it comes to remembering birthdays, or at Christmas.

Chief executive Mike Taylor said: “I can’t get enough Wombles. People look back fondly to the years in which they grew up and even much further — to Art Deco and Art Nouveau for instance.”

Now the firm, which has its headquarters on the Windrush Industrial Estate in Witney, has a £60m turnover and employs about 1,000 full-time and part-time staff — a figure which will rise to about 1,500 over the three-month Christmas period (for which it is now recruiting).

It all seems a far cry from the day John Beale, who also founded The Early Learning Centre, opened the first Past Times shop in Turl Street, Oxford, back in 1986. Then, a choppy future lay in store for the new-born old-timer.

In 2000 it was bought up by giant group Retail Variations, which also included such brands as Ocean Furniture and Hawkshead. But it went into administration five years later, having been brought down by some of its stablemates. However, its individual success was enough to attract the attention of venture capital firm Epic Private Equity Fund and it has flourished ever since.

Mr Taylor said: “I have been with the business five years now. Originally Past Times was a catalogue business working in tandem with retail. In 2007 it had just 67 stores — so we have grown considerably.”

The secret of success here, according to Mr Taylor, is that so-called “discretionary” spending in the high street — the kind economists say many of us are now cutting out as we feel the squeeze — is not really so “discretionary” after all.

He said: “I think many people feel they simply must buy a present for their husband, wife, children, or other members of their family — and that they have very little discretion in that matter at all.”

About 90 per cent of Past Times customers are female — and most are looking for good, affordable value.

Mr Taylor said: “We have a few big ticket items, like jukeboxes selling at more than £1,000, but generally things are what you would call affordable. Some of our goods are very high quality. For instance a traditional teddy bear from Steiff will cost £120.”

He added the management had taken a strategic decision to concentrate on the retail business when he first came on board as chief executive. But he said he expected the web business would grow at a “phenomenal” rate in coming years.

Five years ago, except for a few “early adopters,” there were few computer-savvy people among Past Times customers — but that has changed radically in the intervening period.

Mr Taylor said: “The joy of the web is that we can get such a huge variety of goods on display there — much more than we could physically stock in our shops. Obviously this is an area of huge potential for us.”

Mr Taylor is a retailer to his finger tips. He moved to Past Times from Budgens supermarkets and before that he was in the business of selling fashion garments and sportswear.

“The trick is to know exactly what you are selling and who to,” he added.

Paradoxically, present troubles in the high street actually work in favour of Past Times.

Mr Taylor said that many shopping centres with empty units welcomed the chain at Christmas — because it increased footfall to the centre, that in turn could lead to extra spending.

And the company is also expanding in the direction of taking space in department stores for the festive season.

Mr Taylor said: ”Most of the people we take on at Christmas like the job — and some have been able to stay on and become permanent staff as the business has expanded.”

Like all good ideas, the concept of Past Times is obvious — with hindsight. For years we were all buying antiques, or knick knacks from the generation that preceded ours. Then with the advent of mass production, such individual items became scarce but demand for them persisted. Past Times supplies that demand.

Mr Taylor said that some of its goods were made in the Far East but that the company took huge trouble to ensure no-one was exploited in order to produce them.

He said: “We have responsible agents representing us. And we really have far too much to lose by buying anything from anyone about who we have any doubts at all.”

And the firm recently went local, stocking a bespoke range of mugs and jugs made by Oxfordshire’s Aston Pottery.

Popular sales at the shops today include an Art Nouveau locket at £12; a Victorian music stool at £52 and a miniature radio/CD jukebox at £100. All are cheaper than the originals. An original Steiff bear, for instance, dating from about 1910 would cost you about £1,000 — even in relatively bad condition.

So the only question is . . . what products of today will become antiques of the future, worthy of being reproduced and sold in future Past Times stores?