Jill Barry and Michelle Christie joined Marks and Spencer at the flagship St Nicholas store within a month of each other in 1985.
To put that in context, Margaret Thatcher was halfway through her stint as Prime Minister and Whitney Houston had recently released her debut album.
The M&S they remember from their first day in the prominent city centre building is a far cry from the Aberdeen institution generations of customers know and love now.
The stock was neatly arranged across only one floor, while self checkouts sounded like something from a sci-fi movie.
There were no stock rooms, with the extra garments stored in drawers under the tills, and keeping everything in order involved making sense of piles and piles of paperwork.
Michelle and Jill have seen Marks and Spencer through loads of changes over the years – from the takeover of technology to the introduction of external brands on the shelves.
And now, 40 years on from their first time behind the counter, the pair will join in yet another historical change as they move from St Nicholas to Union Square.
The food hall at the Aberdeen flagship will close this week, followed by the rest of the building in a few months.
“There has always been a new challenge and a new opportunity,” Michelle tells me over a cuppa in Starbucks, a stone’s throw from the expanding branch in the mall.
“We’ve stayed with the business through great times and through some leaner times… But we have stayed because we believe in M&S and the standards that are there.”
She adds: “The St Nicholas store has been here for years, and there is, of course, that bit of nostalgia to see it close.
“But we need to evolve and move forward.”
‘We walked into Marks and Spencer 40 years ago, and never looked back’
In many ways, this is the end of an era for Michelle and Jill, who have been best friends ever since they first met in the flagship store’s food hall all those years ago.
Michelle was 17 years old when she took on a fixed-term job at Marks and Spencer for three months.
These few months turned into years, however, with the now 56-year-old doing various jobs at the St Nicholas store until eventually becoming a team manager in 1999.
It was a similar case with Jill, too.
She started at the menswear department after she had her first child, working 16 hours a week “to keep her going until she found something more permanent”.
But as she grow more and more fond of the city centre store and the people she met there, the intention to leave quickly evaporated.
Jill now looks back on those days with endearment for everything she has experienced over the last 40 years, “still remembering her first day as it was yesterday”.
And she now plays a crucial part in teaching the new generation of M&S employees.
“I know it’s a cliche, but we truly are like a family,” the 62-year-old smiles as she sips her cup of tea.
“And it’s not just about work – it’s about that personal attachment both to your colleagues and you customers.
“Many things have changed but some never did – the standards and the service are exactly the same, as well as the way we treat the people who walk through our doors.
“This is why we have so many generations of people coming back again and again.”
Marks and Spencer Union Square branch is ‘next step forward’
All those years later, Michelle and Jill are still inseparable.
They are now to dive in into another M&S adventure, as the fully refurbished branch in Union Square opens doors to customers this Friday.
The pair admit that it will feel odd to leave the building they have spent countless hours helping customers in over the last four decades.
But the “fresh start” they are about to embark on is exciting, they say.
Michelle likens the big move to Union Square to the emergence of online shopping, which has uprooted traditional retail and forced “a new way of working”.
She still recalls those festive periods – prior to home deliveries – when the M&S food hall was bustling with people, eager to find the perfect turkey for their Christmas dinner.
And she remembers the buzz around the opening of the Union Square branch when Marks and Spencer first decided to expand their offering in Aberdeen 13 years ago.
“We have been through a lot, and the fact that M&S are investing this kind of money into Aberdeen is exciting,” Michelle tells me.
“Yes, there is a slight sadness about closing the St Nicholas building – but it’s just a building. And as soon as I saw what was coming I was like ‘Wow’.”
Jill adds with a chuckle: “I actually think customers will get a bit of a shock when they see how big the new store is.”
What are you looking forward to seeing in the revamped Union Square store? Let us know in our comments section below
‘This is not the end – it’s a fresh start’
The food department at the long-standing M&S branch at St Nicholas Square will shut on Thursday, with the spruced up shopping centre store opening the following day.
Expanding into the former TK Maxx unit next door, it will be double in size and feature a market-style food hall with a fresh veg stand and an “extra large bakery”.
The move will be done in stages, with the other departments at St Nicholas poised to close in the summer. The cafe there will also remain open throughout this time.
It’s part of the retail giant’s £15 million transformation of their Union Square venue, which they say “will be a game-changer for shoppers”.
And Michelle and Jill are looking forward to this next chapter in their career.
“It looks absolutely amazing,” Michelle smiles.
“I actually had tears in my eyes when I was walking about the other day.
“It’s brand new, it’s beautiful, it’s modern, it’s fresh and well laid out. This is nothing like what customers have seen before from M&S, and I think they will really like it.”
Looking back at all the changes they have been through over the years, Jill adds: “We have been in that store for a long time, but at the end of the day it’s brick and mortar.
“If we hadn’t embraced technology all those years ago, we would have been left behind – and this is no different. Aberdeen needs this as a step forward.
“We are coming to a fresh start, but we’re taking all of our memories from the St Nicholas store with us.”
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