World War Two
Mac Fisheries was thus left alone; it bought fish wholesale, both from Unilever sources as well as in the open market. It did not expand much until the Second World War, when meat which had to be mainly imported was rationed, resulting in a boom in the fish trade. To keep fishermen safe, the government introduced a protected zoning scheme of trawlers, under which they landed fish in different ports each week. Mac Fisheries became adept at communicating to their stores when fresh fish would reach them, resulting in signs in shop windows stating when the next fresh fish delivery was due.[1]
Challenge and development
Food rationing in the UK finally ended in 1954, and together with the wider introduction of American-developed frozen products such as Unilever's own Birds Eye fish fingers, meant a decline in wet-fish sales, and a decline for Mac Fisheries. The management turned the chain towards multi-line retailing, introducing fresh vegetables, dairy products and some canned produce. But now shop size proved a problem, as the originally purchased retail estate from 1920 had not been expanded.[1]
This resulted in the chain moving to larger scale shops in the late 1950s, often on different streets or different parts of the town. But the new multi-line stores proved successful in reviving the chain's fortune, and spurred the growth of the chain into the new concept of supermarket based retail. To expand its footprint Mac Fisheries sought a merger, and found a willing seller in Express Dairies, which wished to dispose of its chain Premier Supermarkets. Express had seen the problem of being both a wholesale supplier to supermarkets such as Fine Fare, Gateway, Sainsbury's and Tesco, as well as a retail competitor in Premier: the same problem that would eventually lead to Mac Fisheries' disposal and closure some 15 years later. Express also needed the cash to develop long-life milk, which the funds from the sale of Premier would allow it to launch.
Merger with Premier Supermarkets
Express put Premier up for sale in April 1964, and concluded a deal with Unilever in May 1964 for £1 million. The Premier stores were rebranded as Macfisheries Food Centres, which were the new format multi-line large footprint stores. Derek Nunn, Mac Fisheries' Sales Director pre-takeover, considered the title supermarket brash, hence the name "Food Centre", but due to public opinion the title slipped back in and eventually stayed.[1]
Again estate problems brought issues for Mac Fisheries. Coming second or third into a particular town with the supermarket concept, the new Food Centres were often in the wrong/quiet part of town. This resulted in increased sales thanks to the footprint increase, but financial performance under target. This slowed store roll out, and there were only 50 Food Centres by the end of 1964. After a period of rationalisation, and a return to profitability, the Supermarket Division was renamed to Mac Market, using a new colour scheme, based on orange over the traditional blue and white. The Macfisheries fish shops continued to trade and were wound down in the light of profitability.
Mac Fisheries developed new distribution systems based on Unilever's expertise, taking over an unused Finefare distribution warehouse in Farnborough, Hampshire. Mac Markets introduced computerised systems to both distribution and retail that was the first high street introduction of the instore computerisation to consumer retailing using the SLIM system developed by ICL.[4] However, the family concepts from both the original fish mongers and Unilever were retained, with gold watches given to staff with 17 years of service.
Closure
Mac Markets' competed with other supermarket brands which were expanding far more quickly, resulting in their lower prices and higher profits. The result was that, by 1973, while Mac Fisheries Group had a turnover of £50million, its margins were smaller. Secondly, the development of out of town retail parks with another change of estate footprint required new investment in the business, something which Unilever was by now reluctant to do as it was supply the competition as well as being a retailer.[1]
The result was a cost-cutting period in 1975, resulting in loss-making store closures and staff reductions, particularly at the group's headquarters in Bracknell, Berkshire.
In April 1979, the Food Centres were sold to International Stores, while the residual wet fish shops were simply closed down within the following three months.[1]
