Harpers Heroes

by Rosie Clarke

  Sally went off to see to her daughter and Ben looked at his sister. ‘Henry won’t take this lying down, Jenni. He’ll try to get you back – if only because it looks bad to his friends.’

  ‘He can try,’ she said. ‘I’ve had enough of being told to be sensible, Ben. I want to laugh and have a little fun. It broke my heart when I lost my baby – but I’m still young. I want to love and be loved – and Henry doesn’t love me.’

  ‘Perhaps in his own way he does,’ Ben said, ‘but you know I never truly liked him.’

  ‘Next time I’ll listen to you,’ she said with a watery smile.

  ‘That will be a first,’ he said and laughed. ‘I made a mistake when I married the first time, Jenni – but I struck gold when I found Sally. If you’re lucky, it could happen to you.’

  ‘Perhaps,’ she said and smiled at him fondly. ‘For the moment I’m just glad to be here with you three.’

  32

  ‘I found this in the order that came from the new supplier,’ Jane Carghill told Sally when Ruth admitted her to the office the next morning. Jane had recently joined the staff as a senior salesgirl in the clothes department. ‘It isn’t much, but it is a fault.’

  ‘Yes, a small one. Acceptable in a sale but not for normal sales.’ Sally nodded as she saw what looked like a little knot in the weave of the wool. ‘Leave me with it and I’ll let you know what happens – you’re sure this is the only fault?’

  ‘Oh yes, Mrs Harper. We always check the stock carefully just in case. I went through every pack of knitwear myself.’

  ‘Then I know I can trust your word. You have sharp eyes, Mrs Carghill.’

  Jane Carghill left her and Sally sat in contemplation of the pretty jumper for a moment before ringing the sales manager of the manufacturer. He was instantly apologetic and told her he would refund her immediately and supply an extra garment.

  ‘I can’t apologise enough,’ he said gloomily. ‘It’s the war, Mrs Harper. My best staff were all keen to join up and the new ones don’t always spot a fault in time – last week we had a run of five hundred in our best line before the fault was noticed.’

  ‘Are the faults always as small as this?’ Sally asked curiously.

  ‘Yes, they were all the same; it was just a little hitch in the machine and it’s fixed now.’

  ‘If you don’t mind my asking, what do you do with the faulty garments?’

  ‘We either sell them to the market boys for a few pence or we sell them for rags at the end of the year.’

  ‘And supposing I said I would take that five hundred from you, what is your best price to me?’

  ‘Are you thinking of having a sale?’ the manager asked, a hint of excitement in his voice. ‘Only we have a back stock of five thousand end of line and I was thinking about putting them out to the market boys at a shilling a piece just to clear my stockroom and get a little money in – but they only buy a few bits at a time…’

  ‘Are the end of line perfect?’

  ‘Oh, yes, Mrs Harper, but they’re last year’s stock or, in some instances, five years out of date. Perfectly good, but we only have them in certain sizes, you see.’

  ‘Right, I’ll take all your end-of-line stock and the five hundred imperfect items,’ Sally said, feeling a spurt of excitement. ‘I’ve had an idea, Mr Freebody – and, if it works, I’ll be taking everything you can give me until the end of the war.’

  Jenni entered the office as Sally ended her call. She looked at her face and saw the brilliance of her eyes. ‘Now what are you up to, Sally Harper?’

  ‘I’ve had what I think is a great idea, Jenni. If it works, I’ll need your help, because we’ll have to ring every knitwear company in the country and we’ll have to be fast, because if my idea catches on, all our competitors will be trying the same thing.’

  ‘That sounds exciting,’ Jenni said. ‘Tell me more.’

  ‘Look at that tiny fault,’ Sally said and showed her the garment Jane Carghill had brought to her. ‘It’s a second and I can buy it for one shilling – and there are five hundred of them. I’m going to sell them at two shillings and sixpence each, but I’m going to have a big notice telling my customers that for every garment they buy Harpers will donate one shilling to the fund for wounded servicemen, Army, Navy or Royal Flying Corps.’

  Jenni stared at her. ‘It’s a good idea, Sally, but five hundred garments won’t last long…’

  ‘No, but there’s another five thousand perfect garments, end of line and all at the same price to me.’

  ‘Ah, now I begin to understand – it’s a gamble, but I think you’re on to something, Sally.’ Jenni clapped her hands in delight. ‘I always knew you were clever.’

  ‘Normally, I would only buy a few things for the sale, but it’s different now,’ Sally explained. ‘They cannot make enough new stock to keep everyone happy. I can’t believe no one has thought of it before.’

  ‘People might think twice about buying last year’s stock unless it was very cheap at normal times,’ Jenni agreed, ‘but it’s the twist of giving to the injured men that will make all the difference.’

  ‘Well, it could cost me a few pounds if I’m wrong,’ Sally said, ‘and we shan’t make much out of it, but it will bring the customers in and cause a bit of excitement – at least I’m hoping it will, and, of course, it will help those wounded men…’

  ‘I’m certain it will bring the customers in, and anything to help the wounded is good in my book,’ Jenni said. ‘This jumper is fully fashioned and I’d like it myself. The fault is so tiny no one would notice – but you’re right about us having to be quick if it works, because they will all want to do the same thing.’

  ‘Do you think I should buy all I can get now?’ Sally hesitated. ‘What I’m investing so far is nothing, but if I went ahead and bought all the surplus stock, I could find…?’

  ‘Perhaps two or three hundred pounds,’ Jenni nodded. She looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘It is a risk, Sally – but I think we should do it. Give me that list of suppliers and I’ll pick out the ones you need.’

  Ben looked at his sister and wife over supper that evening. He frowned and then nodded. ‘Yes, I see it is a wonderful idea and if it catches on it will raise a lot of money for the wounded men – but it is a bit of a risk, Sally. Suppose some of the stuff turns out to be unsaleable at any price?’

  ‘Then I’ve wasted your money and you can sack me,’ Sally said promptly. ‘I know it is a risk, Ben, but it is also a fantastic opportunity. Stock is low in most stores at the moment. There will be more raw material about again next spring after the sheep shearing, but most manufacturers are running low. New stock is limited – but they all had quite a bit of end-of-line stock and I bought all I thought sounded worth having. Some of it we’ve stocked before. I think it should be good value.’

  ‘Well, I can only say good luck.’ Ben smiled at her and saluted them both with his wine glass. ‘I suppose we can stand a loss of a few hundred, even if things are tight at the moment.’

  ‘Don’t be such a pessimist,’ Jenni scolded. ‘It’s a brilliant idea – just you wait and see.’

  ‘I’m going to wait until I’ve got most of the stock in and then we’ll put the notices in the window. I’ve spoken to Marion and she told me that Marco came up with a window for helping the wounded heroes, so we’ll go with that at the same time as we open our sale to the public.’

  Ben nodded and left them to talk about their plans as he disappeared into the sitting room to do some paperwork.

  ‘I’m glad you were here,’ Sally said a little ruefully. ‘Ben didn’t think it was such a good idea. If I’d asked him, I would probably never have done it…’

  ‘Believe me, it will work,’ Jenni assured her with a smile. ‘I’ve got a feeling in my gut and I’ve had years of experience.’

  The sales teams involved had all been sworn to secrecy. Marion knew what was going on because of the window display they’d planned together, but everyone else was in the
dark. They all knew something different was happening, but the window was under wraps as always until the morning of the great reveal and then it went up to show a scene of nurses tending wounded soldiers, Royal Flying Corps officers and sailors. ‘Support our brave heroes keeping Britain safe,’ the banner across the window said and there was the Union Jack hung as a backdrop. Then there were displays of jumpers, twinsets and cardigans with the big notice in black and gold to echo Harpers’ colours.

  FOR EVERY GARMENT YOU PURCHASE FROM THESE RANGES, HARPERS WILL GIVE ONE SHILLING TO THE FUND FOR OUR WOUNDED HEROES. NOTHING IN THIS RANGE COSTS MORE THAN 2 SHILLINGS AND 6 PENNIES. PERFECT GARMENTS. ONLY AS LONG AS STOCK LASTS.

  Almost immediately a small crowd gathered in front of the window, pointing and talking excitedly. Customers nodded at each other and came streaming in. There were large bins downstairs filled with the stock, where they could be accessed immediately, and another large sign to inform customers that more were available upstairs.

  The tills started ringing almost instantly and continued the whole morning as the patriotic ladies of London streamed in to purchase garments that were perfect and cheap and yet every one contributed to a fund for the wounded. By that afternoon there was a queue out of the shop and down Oxford Street. Sally had brought more of the stock downstairs and kept the bins constantly filled.

  ‘This is so exciting,’ one customer trilled at her. ‘I loved this style last year and you didn’t have any further stock in – now I’ve bought three for half the price…’

  ‘I’m so glad you’re pleased,’ Sally told the ladies who came up to her and congratulated her on what she was doing for the wounded of Britain.

  ‘You are a heroine, Mrs Harper,’ three of them told her. ‘I can’t believe what you’ve done – all these lovely things. So cheap and yet you’re giving money to our men…’

  ‘Harpers wanted to help,’ Sally said. ‘This is just a small thing, Mrs Simpson, but we shall be thinking of more ideas, don’t you worry.’

  ‘This always was my favourite shop and now I’ll never go anywhere else,’ the woman said fervently and smiled as she nodded to Sally and went off with her purchases.

  Towards the end of the afternoon, Sally saw a man in a smart black coat and a beaver hat watching her. She looked at him, a feeling of recognition making her smile. He tipped his hat to her and then came towards her.

  ‘Mrs Harper – you’ve stolen a march on us all, I think.’ His eyes moved round the busy store, taking in the excited faces.

  ‘I just wanted to make a few people happy and help the wounded at the same time.’

  ‘Brilliant tactics,’ he said. ‘I salute you. Harry Selfridge doesn’t often get beaten, but this time you’ve shown me the way.’

  ‘I’m sure you will come up with something quite as good, Mr Selfridge.’

  ‘Oh, I shall,’ he said confidently. ‘But you were the first.’ He looked at her consideringly for a moment. ‘Someone told me you used to work for me, Mrs Harper?’

  ‘Before I came here, yes.’

  ‘Why did you leave – may I ask?’

  ‘One of your senior salesmen harassed me and when I reported it to my supervisor, I was told I was too sensitive.’

  He frowned. ‘Give me their names and I’ll sack them instantly.’

  ‘I’ve no wish for revenge. Coming to Harpers was the best thing I ever did.’

  ‘Harpers’ gain was my loss,’ Harry Selfridge replied with a wry smile and tipped his hat. ‘I suppose I can’t tempt you back?’

  ‘I think my husband might object,’ Sally said and laughed, ‘but thank you for the offer.’

  He inclined his head and then walked away.

  Jenni came up to her, grinning from ear to ear. ‘Ben is going to have to eat humble pie tonight, Sally,’ she said. ‘When the great Harry Selfridge tips his hat to you, you know you’ve done something extraordinary.’

  ‘I’ll bet he’ll have something better in his store by tomorrow or the next day.’

  ‘That is possible,’ Jenni agreed. ‘He can’t match what we’ve done, because we bought all the available surplus stock – but he will probably find a way to bring the customers in. However, he can’t take away today’s trading and we’ve sold more than half the stock you bought anyway. One more day like this and we’ve got to think of something else.’

  Sally nodded and smiled. ‘I doubt we’ll see anything like this again, Jenni, but between us we ought to be able to come up with something.’

  By the next morning, Selfridges had a notice in the window that for every pound spent in the store Mr Selfridge would donate two shillings to a fund for the war wounded. His trade increased, but there were no queues outside the shop, because he’d been unable to do what Sally had done. The beauty of her idea was that normal knitwear stock was low and it was the kind of thing many women went on wearing for years, even if fashions changed. It was slightly different from other clothing because sizes varied more in cloth garments and women needed to try on coats or dresses, and they also tended to make do with a skirt they had from a year or two back if they had a new jumper or twinset to smarten it up.

  The newspapers had taken pictures and Harpers was blazed across the front pages of at least three of them, though The Times had relegated them to an inside page. However, Sally hadn’t expected the papers to bother with her little initiative and felt pleased that it had made some headlines.

  Sally had bought up the surplus stock in male knitwear the same day as she put her sale for women on. If the other big stores tried to purchase stock at knock-down prices, they were too late, and once she had exhausted her sale of women’s specially priced knitwear, she put on one for men. It did well, though the queues didn’t extend as far as the ladies’ knitwear had done, but it was still popular.

  Some of the other big stores had come up with ideas of their own. Discounts on old stock they already had with donations to the war wounded, and some just had tins dotted about the store to collect for the fund. Sally saw that Selfridges held a flag day and gave away sherry and wine in the shop, but Mr Selfridge stopped the two shillings out of every sale after a month.

  Just over a month later, when Sally made a donation of nearly one thousand pounds to the fund for the war wounded, the organiser came to see her in her office to thank her personally.

  ‘Harpers’ contribution is magnificent, Mrs Harper,’ she said, beaming at her, ‘but because of what you did, we’ve had donations from almost every shop in London – and that amounts to several thousand pounds. Harry Selfridge asked how much you had donated and then doubled it. We cannot thank you enough for your efforts.’

  ‘I’m delighted to have helped,’ Sally said, smiling to herself. Harry Selfridge had made sure he won in the end. ‘We’re going to have another big push near Christmas. My staff are having a competition to come up with the best ideas and I’m giving the winners a five-pound voucher each to spend in the store.’

  ‘No wonder your girls love to work here, Mrs Harper. My daughter just adores this store and she says she’s going to work here as soon as she leaves school.’

  ‘We shall be pleased to see her,’ Sally said and smiled. ‘Tell her to work hard and get her exams – because at Harpers, girls with good qualifications and skills have a chance to get on.’

  ‘Yes. That is what my Millicent likes. She says there is more chance for a girl here than in most stores, though Selfridges also promotes women to supervisors, but you have a female floor walker and you became the buyer before you married Mr Harper.’

  ‘Harpers tries to give women an equal chance. As yet, they do not get the same wages as the men, but one day I hope that will happen – or at least be more equal.’

  ‘Well, you can’t start a revolution on your own, Mrs Harper,’ the woman said, smiling. ‘Although after the war my Millicent believes women will get the vote – she’s a real little suffragette.’

  ‘Good for her,’ Sally said, ‘but she mustn’t forget what our me
n are doing for us right now – and I’m sure she doesn’t with a mother like you.’

  ‘Well, I was with the Women’s Movement, but we called a truce for the war. After all, if our men are willing to fight for us, we have to do our best for them, don’t we?’

  ‘We certainly do,’ Sally agreed. ‘I am so glad to have helped, Mrs Phillips. If there is anything more I can do, you must let me know.’

  ‘You’ve already done more than most, but if I think of anything, I’ll be back.’

  Sally smiled. Her idea had paid dividends. Although Harpers had made very little from the sale of the cut-price knitwear, it had brought a great deal of goodwill to the store and they’d cleared everything. Sales were back to normal now and knitwear sales were down, but that didn’t matter, because almost everything else was selling strongly. Harpers had now become the store of choice for many women and that was worth all the effort as well as the successful fundraising.

  Because she was so pleased with the way things had gone, Sally kept back fifty of the best slightly faulty fully fashioned twinsets, two each in five sizes, and she sent them in a parcel to Maggie Gibbs serving with the VADs in Belgium. Sally had done a little for the wounded men and now she wanted to help the nurses on the front line and she decided that it would be her next campaign.

  In the middle of all the sales activity, Henry sailed for New York, having sent his son on ahead with his nanny. Jenni spoke to him at the hotel for half an hour before he left and when she returned, her face looked drawn and anxious, but she hadn’t said anything. She didn’t speak about it all until a letter came for her from Tom at the beginning of August.

  She showed it to Sally with a watery smile. ‘Tom is going to write to me once a month and he says he will whatever his father tells him – he says he loves me and thinks of me as his mother, and he intends to visit me as soon as he can leave school and do what he wants.’