A stitch in time
Textile factory to supermarket? It may not seem an obvious development until you consider that Peter Blond International used to supply supermarkets like Marks and Spencers, Asda and Tesco with clothes. When the factory closed down, the company was...
Textile factory to supermarket? It may not seem an obvious development until you consider that Peter Blond International used to supply supermarkets like Marks and Spencers, Asda and Tesco with clothes. When the factory closed down, the company was re-born as Scotts.
"The logistics and distribution are very similar," Scotts managing director Mario Said said.
The company traces its roots back to World War II, when Arnolds, operating from premises at Mannarino Road in Birkirkara, made boilersuits for the dockyard workers. The company moved to purpose-built premises in Sta Venera in 1950, although at the time, it occupied less than 1/10th of the site it eventually took over.
Mr Said did not see his future with his mother's family business. He was studying architecture in Rome but had to face up to the fact that he would probably not be able to practice there. In the early 1960s, he returned to Malta to continue his studies here, finding that he had to work his way through the educational system from O-levels to university.
"Since I had already done most of the work in Rome, I found the going quite easy and had plenty of spare time so I used to potter around the factory. I eventually got my degree but found that I was intrigued by the factory," he recalls.
He joined the firm and by the mid-1970s, the company was exporting to England and Libya.
"A casual encounter brought us into contact with Peter Blond, who also had factories supplying Marks and Spencers with textiles. In 1974, we formed a partnership, changed the name of the company from Arnolds to Peter Blond International and started to focus on the UK market," he said.
Other chains soon signed on and Peter Blond International started to supply British outlets such as BHS and Tesco as well as continental giants such as C&A.
By 1987, Mr Blond decided to get out of textiles and the Said family bought his 50 per cent shareholding, retaining the company name.
It was a busy period for the company, which by then employed 100 people and had its own design and marketing office in England. It had one factory making blouses and shirts and another making jeans, using Sta Venera as well as a site in Marsa.
"Over the years, however, demand for jeans grew rapidly. We phased out the blouses and shirts and worked exclusively on jeans for the UK. It made more sense to supply mainly one market as there were so many different styles on the continent," he recalled.
But the heyday was coming to an end and it was obvious that Malta was soon going to be outpriced by lower cost centres. In 1999, Mr Said started to look for alternative production centres in Tunisia and Morocco, eventually finding a subcontractor in Romania.
"I suppose change was inevitable but September 11 seemed to accelerate the shake-up. We used to sell jeans to the supermarkets for £10.99 but by the time we closed, they were sourcing them from cheaper countries and they were selling them for £4.99! The fabric alone cost us more than that. We could never match those prices," he said.
"We used to pay £2 just to wash each pair of jeans..."
The sewing machines fell silent in December 2002. At its peak, the company employed 180 people, whittled down to 45 through natural wastage. Some of the machines were sent to the Romanian contractor, who is still in operation; others were sold.
"It was a very difficult time for us. Many of these people had been with us for many years," he lamented. But the closure of the factory was not the end of the story. Mr Said always thought that the site in Sta Venera would be ideal for a supermarket and he had actually applied to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for a permit in 1998.
The outline development permit was only granted last year. But by then, Fate had intervened. In May 2002, an advert in the newspapers offered a lease on the former Price Club in Naxxar.
"We thought that it might be a good idea to start with a small outlet before we opened the Sta Venera one," he said.
The Saids - by now sons Stephen and Andrew were also on board - took over the Naxxar site while the last jeans orders were being dispatched from the factory.
"It made the transition easier as we were able to keep on 30 of the employees and most of the management structure," he said.
The search began for a new name. Mr Said and his right-hand man, Joe Grech, together with Stephen and Andrew, drew up a list of 200 short and catchy names and eliminated a few of them every day until they ended up with Scotts.
By February 2003, another site came up for grabs: The Attard supermarket had been leased to the Price Club and its owners wanted new operators.
"We wanted to expand but looking back things moved quicker than we had planned because soon after, we were also negotiating with HSBC for the purchase of the Burmarrad site!" he smiled.
The first two sites needed minimal work; Burmarrad, however, required a total redesign. The new owners moved the entrance away from the busy road to the other side of the building, where there was also better parking. The store opened in July 2005.
The company also started to work on its supply routes and had struck up an agreement with Sisa. It turned out to be a fortuitous association. When Sisa decided it was not making enough money, it asked Scotts to manage its outlets.
Sta Luċija was opened just over a year ago and the Sliema store opened a few months later. St Julians was opened last December and suddenly Scotts found that its was benefiting from economies of scale.
"We started using Sta Venera as our central warehouse and we streamlined our software. We encouraged a company in Gozo, J2, to create a complete software system that also enabled us to use a hand-tool to scan the shelves and come up with the orders for each of our 18,000 products for each day. It is brilliant. Each day, we prepare colour-coded baskets for each site and dispatch them from Sta Venera.
"We also have set times for our suppliers to deliver their goods and this means that there is a very efficient flow of goods in and out, with supermarket shelves fully stocked each morning, without having to rely on storage on site," he said.
The former Sisa in Żabbar is next in line but Mr Said admitted that they might actually take a break after that.
"I think perhaps it is time to catch our breath. We need to consolidate. We will have gone from one store to seven in five years. The turnover has grown considerably and we are looking for a warehouse in an industrial area. Once we move out of Sta Venera, we will be able to move ahead with our plans for this threetumoli site."
The Saids decided to sell most of the area for development, keeping only enough space for the supermarket.
"I believe it is best to stick to your core business," he said.
If that means moving from textiles to supermarkets, so be it...
"The logistics and distribution are very similar," Scotts managing director Mario Said said.
The company traces its roots back to World War II, when Arnolds, operating from premises at Mannarino Road in Birkirkara, made boilersuits for the dockyard workers. The company moved to purpose-built premises in Sta Venera in 1950, although at the time, it occupied less than 1/10th of the site it eventually took over.
Mr Said did not see his future with his mother's family business. He was studying architecture in Rome but had to face up to the fact that he would probably not be able to practice there. In the early 1960s, he returned to Malta to continue his studies here, finding that he had to work his way through the educational system from O-levels to university.
"Since I had already done most of the work in Rome, I found the going quite easy and had plenty of spare time so I used to potter around the factory. I eventually got my degree but found that I was intrigued by the factory," he recalls.
He joined the firm and by the mid-1970s, the company was exporting to England and Libya.
"A casual encounter brought us into contact with Peter Blond, who also had factories supplying Marks and Spencers with textiles. In 1974, we formed a partnership, changed the name of the company from Arnolds to Peter Blond International and started to focus on the UK market," he said.
Other chains soon signed on and Peter Blond International started to supply British outlets such as BHS and Tesco as well as continental giants such as C&A.
By 1987, Mr Blond decided to get out of textiles and the Said family bought his 50 per cent shareholding, retaining the company name.
It was a busy period for the company, which by then employed 100 people and had its own design and marketing office in England. It had one factory making blouses and shirts and another making jeans, using Sta Venera as well as a site in Marsa.
"Over the years, however, demand for jeans grew rapidly. We phased out the blouses and shirts and worked exclusively on jeans for the UK. It made more sense to supply mainly one market as there were so many different styles on the continent," he recalled.
But the heyday was coming to an end and it was obvious that Malta was soon going to be outpriced by lower cost centres. In 1999, Mr Said started to look for alternative production centres in Tunisia and Morocco, eventually finding a subcontractor in Romania.
"I suppose change was inevitable but September 11 seemed to accelerate the shake-up. We used to sell jeans to the supermarkets for £10.99 but by the time we closed, they were sourcing them from cheaper countries and they were selling them for £4.99! The fabric alone cost us more than that. We could never match those prices," he said.
"We used to pay £2 just to wash each pair of jeans..."
The sewing machines fell silent in December 2002. At its peak, the company employed 180 people, whittled down to 45 through natural wastage. Some of the machines were sent to the Romanian contractor, who is still in operation; others were sold.
"It was a very difficult time for us. Many of these people had been with us for many years," he lamented. But the closure of the factory was not the end of the story. Mr Said always thought that the site in Sta Venera would be ideal for a supermarket and he had actually applied to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for a permit in 1998.
The outline development permit was only granted last year. But by then, Fate had intervened. In May 2002, an advert in the newspapers offered a lease on the former Price Club in Naxxar.
"We thought that it might be a good idea to start with a small outlet before we opened the Sta Venera one," he said.
The Saids - by now sons Stephen and Andrew were also on board - took over the Naxxar site while the last jeans orders were being dispatched from the factory.
"It made the transition easier as we were able to keep on 30 of the employees and most of the management structure," he said.
The search began for a new name. Mr Said and his right-hand man, Joe Grech, together with Stephen and Andrew, drew up a list of 200 short and catchy names and eliminated a few of them every day until they ended up with Scotts.
By February 2003, another site came up for grabs: The Attard supermarket had been leased to the Price Club and its owners wanted new operators.
"We wanted to expand but looking back things moved quicker than we had planned because soon after, we were also negotiating with HSBC for the purchase of the Burmarrad site!" he smiled.
The first two sites needed minimal work; Burmarrad, however, required a total redesign. The new owners moved the entrance away from the busy road to the other side of the building, where there was also better parking. The store opened in July 2005.
The company also started to work on its supply routes and had struck up an agreement with Sisa. It turned out to be a fortuitous association. When Sisa decided it was not making enough money, it asked Scotts to manage its outlets.
Sta Luċija was opened just over a year ago and the Sliema store opened a few months later. St Julians was opened last December and suddenly Scotts found that its was benefiting from economies of scale.
"We started using Sta Venera as our central warehouse and we streamlined our software. We encouraged a company in Gozo, J2, to create a complete software system that also enabled us to use a hand-tool to scan the shelves and come up with the orders for each of our 18,000 products for each day. It is brilliant. Each day, we prepare colour-coded baskets for each site and dispatch them from Sta Venera.
"We also have set times for our suppliers to deliver their goods and this means that there is a very efficient flow of goods in and out, with supermarket shelves fully stocked each morning, without having to rely on storage on site," he said.
The former Sisa in Żabbar is next in line but Mr Said admitted that they might actually take a break after that.
"I think perhaps it is time to catch our breath. We need to consolidate. We will have gone from one store to seven in five years. The turnover has grown considerably and we are looking for a warehouse in an industrial area. Once we move out of Sta Venera, we will be able to move ahead with our plans for this threetumoli site."
The Saids decided to sell most of the area for development, keeping only enough space for the supermarket.
"I believe it is best to stick to your core business," he said.
If that means moving from textiles to supermarkets, so be it...