M&S Archive: from a Kirkgate penny stall to a national institution

Marks & Spencer began in Leeds in 1884, when Michael Marks set up a stall in Kirkgate Market with the famous sign: “Don’t ask the price — it’s a penny.” The M&S Archive at the University of Leeds tells the whole story in its free Marks in Time exhibition.

(Image: The Michael Marks Building, home of the M&S Archive — Rachael Unsworth, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Historic garments, packaging, films and photographs track 140 years from penny bazaars to an international retailer — you can even browse a recreated Penny Bazaar and try on fashions of the past.

📍 Michael Marks Building, University of Leeds, LS2 9LP — Google Maps
Mon–Fri and the second Saturday of each month, 10am–4pm · Free entry

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