The Founding of Mark & Moody, the History of the Building and Mary Stevens Hospice’s Diary of the Refurbishment of the Premises The Establishment of Mark & Moody History reports that every Black Country town had its own printer and publisher who printed town guides, directories and local newspapers, and Stourbridge’s was Mark & Moody.

Established in 1840 by Thomas Mellard, following his death in 1861, the business was bought by Kidderminster businessman Thomas Mark, who relocated to its present High Street premises five years later. In 1878, George Moody, who had started his career as an apprentice, became a partner in the business and Mark and Moody was founded.

In 1890 Mark & Moody acquired the County Express and printed the popular weekly newspaper for the next 82 years. The death of Thomas Mark in 1896 saw control of the business pass to the Moody family and George’s son Arthur, who later became Mayor of Stourbridge, managed the printing company. His sudden passing in 1926, saw his widow Mary, become Chairman and take sole charge of the business, a role she fulfilled until her own death in August 1985 at the grand age of 104.

The History of the Building The building was originally designed in 1866 by local architect, Thomas Smith, with refurbishment of the shop frontage taking place in 1936 under the guidance of Thomas Mark, who insisted that at a cost £34, the doors and windows be supported by polished granite columns. The design, by Dudley architects, Messrs Webb and Gray, saw the columns incorporated into the modernised shop front and have remained the prominent feature of this historic building.

Progress as of Friday 6th August 2010 Mary Stevens Hospice Trading Company took over the lease of a prominent High Street outlet in Stourbridge on Friday 9th July. The building is well known to every Stourbridge resident as the former Mark & Moody store, and more recently, Paperway.

The charity has been trading from Victoria Passage for the past 17 years, but the historic move is intended to transform it into a flagship outlet complete with coffee shop.

Down on donations as the current economic climate continues to bite, and with increasing numbers of national charity shops locating in Stourbridge town, it is hoped that the new prominent location will continue to raise the profile of Mary Stevens Hospice.

The size of the project means the work will be carried out in two phases, with priority given to ensuring the shop opens by late summer, followed by the coffee shop being fully operational by the end of phase two.

Work on the new site commenced immediately under the guidance of Peter Gibson, Operations Manager. The workforce consisted of Hospice employees, and for the first three weeks of the operation, half a dozen people were supplied to us by the Probationary Service under the Community Pay Back Scheme. The time consuming task of removing tonnes of rubbish from the site was first on the agenda, followed by extensive dismantling of the shop fittings, many of which will be utilised, and finally a rigorous cleaning regime for the entire store prior to painting.

A great deal of electrical checks and consequent work has been carried out, as has general maintenance work including cleaning and servicing the air conditioning unit and inspections of the fire alarm system.

The first section of the shop as you enter the store from the doorway has undergone refurbishment and is now complete apart from the display shelving that is currently being fitted.

Moving on, the middle and largest area of the outlet which will be allocated to the clothing section has been the most time consuming, and as it happens, the most exciting. To accommodate the maple slat walling the existing shelving and backing panels had to be dismantled which revealed doors and 4 leaded window frames dating back to the original Mark & Moody print works. The findings have been photographed and every measure taken to preserve them, by simply replacing the original panels. Currently, there is an ongoing operation to secure the maple slat walling.

Work to create a rear office, steam room and to develop the cellar headroom, which will be the bric-a-brac storage, have involved the areas being completely gutted, painted and in the case of the steam room, vertical supports fitted and shelving secured for the bric-a-brac storage.

Currently, work is being carried out on the inside of the front shop window, the decor under the staircase is being freshened up and storage space is being created in the stairwell, although the majority of the work in this area is scheduled for phase two. Securing maple slat walling is ongoing as is creating studded frame work.

Peter says of the progress to date, “Despite there being far more dismantling and clearing of rubbish than initially anticipated, resulting in a prolonged task, I am confident that we are now back on track and the outlet is expected to open at the end of the month.”

Progress as of Thursday 12th August 2010 As Mary Stevens Hospice continues its mammoth task of transforming the former Mark & Moody Store into its flagship outlet, the last six days has seen the shop begin to take shape, and as the work has progressed, attention has been given to the finer points.

Work behind the scenes and on the shop floor has continued with the installation of a sink unit and a water heater in the rear office, and Peter Gibson, the Operations Manager, reports that the construction of the maple slat walling in the middle section of the store, which will become the clothing department, has “progressed considerably.”

Consideration has been given to the prominent display windows at the front of the outlet and the erection of a platform is underway to facilitate the display of furniture.

This week has seen a huge “Coming Soon” poster occupy one of the shop windows that has had the desired effect and attracted a lot of interest from the general public, so hopefully the donations of good quality clothing, furniture, bric-a-brac, toys and books and of course, responses to the Text £1 to “Margaret” to 70099, the campaign that was launched last week, will come flooding in.

By Diane Moore Lottery Field Manager