The Marshall's History
Arthur Marshall
Owner Marshalls Shoes
Established 1879
TomMarshall
Owner Marshalls Shoes
Established 1967
Andrew Marshall
Founder Strolling4Shoes
Established 2004
Gus Marshall
Owner TMFG
Established 2010
Fraser Marshall
Owner Strolling4Shoes
Established 2023
Crosby Shoe Agencies, now known as The Marshall Fashion Group, was founded in 2000 by Andrew Marshall (Gus's father). For various reasons, Crosby Shoes was put to one side following the success of Andrew's retail venture, Strolling4Shoes. Gus reinstated Crosby Shoe Agencies (TMFG) in 2010. Below is the wider story on how the Marshalls lead their way into the footwear and fashion industry.
The Beginning
The Marshall legacy in footwear started over 100 years ago, when Gus Marshall was but a distant idea in the eyes of 14 year old Arthur Marshall.
In 1879, 'Boss Mags' ran two shops in Worcester's infamous Shambles. With daily drives of cattle to one of the street abattoirs to be processed for the butchers, it was the most unlikely place to find shoe and clothes shops.
Despite this, brothers Arthur and Herbert Marshall split their interests, with Herbert working in Mags' Clothing outlet at one end and Arthur working in the shoe shop at the other. When Mags' passed away, the brothers were given first refusal of the shops. Both took the opportunity with Herbert continuing with the clothes store. For Arthur, Marshalls Shoes was born.
Marshalls 2nd Generation
Marshalls specialised in the cheap end of the trade. Providing various workmen with boots at incredibly low prices - Marshalls became the place to buy your value shoes. Arthur’s son Arthur (aka Tom) was introduced to the business and like a horse to water, he became involved in the footwear trade.
Post World War 2
This relationship continue d until the Second World War, where Tom was called up to National Service. Tom took a role in the Munitions factory before moving to the agricultural side, providing work for Italian POW's.
Marshalls continued trading but due to the war, it began to struggle with poor trade. During Tom's time, he met his wife to be - Jean. A member of the Land Army, they were soon wed and, like most people who become a Marshall, Jean was quickly introduced to the shoe trade.
Post war, Tom and Jean inherited a very broken business, but with determination and a bit of hard work they began to reinvent Marshalls Shoes. With the help of Linries of Bristol and Orrs of Birmingham, who pumped Marshalls full of shoes, the focus from cheap and nasty work boots soon switched to good quality shoes.
Soon Marshalls of Worcester transformed into a thriving shoe shop and expanded to its second outlet, Bromsgrove. Trade continued well but after a trip to visit friends in Symonds Yat, Tom and Jean wanted to relocate.
Once Worcesters’ lease was up and they sold Bromsgrove, Marshalls upped sticks and moved to a small unit on Monnow Street in Monmouth, where it became very apparent that this narrow unit just wouldn't suffice.
When the unit next door became available, it was a no brainer to keep the narrow shop as a gents shop and move the rest of the business into what would be the Marshall flagship shop.
The 3rd Generation
If you visited Marshalls on a Saturday morning you would be served by Tom and Jean’s 11 year old son, Andrew. Andrew saw working in the shop as a good way to earn 6 pence an hour at a weekend until a well-to-do customer came in one day and requested to be served by "the knowledgeable young man".
From this day forward, Andrew was hooked!
From this day forward, Andrew was hooked!
The decision for Andrew to work in the shops was subject to him having a years’ experience working for different people in different areas of the trade. This led him to work in Bournemouth, Bond Street in London and various other aspects covering production and design. With a years’ full of knowledge, Andrew returned home and ran the latest branch of Marshall's based in Ledbury.
Ross-On-Wye
A few years down the line, with retirement looming for Tom and Jean they moved out of Monmouth and sold Ledbury to open a shop in Ross-On-Wye. This became the home for Andrew as he took full control of Marshalls.
Andrew continued running the Ross-On-Wye shop with his wife Sue until he was offered the opportunity to manage Gloucesters’ shoe empire, Shop for Shoes. After many years Marshalls shoes ended its reign but there was much more to come!
The Next Step....
Andrew soon moved his way up through Shop for Shoes and became the buyer where he began meeting and making new contacts within the trade. With a family now in tow, Andrew made some big decisions to change sides completely and enter the world of a sales rep.
Having proved his worth in retail, Andrew became the North of England and Scotlands’ footwear rep for Rombah Wallace...all while living in Herefordshire.
A move up north was inevitable since finishing a sales appointment in Wick, north of Scotland, and then explaining to his wife and kids "I'll be home in 9 hours" was the icing on the cake.
So in the summer of 1997, the Marshall family moved north to West Cumbria. After many years with Rombah Wallace, Andrew setup Crosby Shoe Agencies, a footwear agency which represented Wolky, Country Jacks, Fly Flot and German giant DRS (now a sister company of Rieker).
This was the beginning of Gus's exposure to the trade, where at the age of 10 he found himself putting orders into Andrew’s laptop. On one occasion in Fenwicks, he also helped his dad sell.
In 2004 and at 44 years of age, sick of the sight of the M6, Andrew and Sue took a stroll around Keswick on New Years’ Day, and saw a small unit was available to rent. Therefore, Strolling4Shoes
was born and became the beginning of Andrew and Sue's next challenge.
Strolling4Shoes
Within four years, Strolling4Shoes had gone from being a little shoe shop in Keswick with one full time member of staff to five shops across Cumbria with 25 staff, four of which were Gus and his brothers Will, Phil and Fraser Marshall.
At that age, Will, Phil and Fraser did not show much interest in the trade, however, similarly to his ancestors, Arthur, Tom, Gus got the retail footwear bug. Working as and when he could in between school and university, Gus took on the role of managing the Penrith clearance branch.
However, wanting more of a challenge, over a pint the decision was made for Gus to take the reins again of Crosby Shoe Agencies, which has since been rebranded to The Marshall Fashion Group.
Over 100 years later, in 2022 Fraser joined the footwear retail industry, taking over Strolling4Shoes and becoming the latest member of the Marshalls in the shoe trade.
“If you haven't met me yet...you will and if you have met me now, you now where I've come from!” Gus Marshall, owner of TMFG.
