Features / Broadmead
The humble Bristolian beginnings of an optometrist giant
In Bristol during the 1980s, work began to create The Galleries shopping centre, powerboat racing in the docks was an annual occurrence, and mullets were almost as prevalent as they are among university students of today.
The decade was also marked by the opening of the first ever Specsavers – now giants of the optical community and originator of the staple phrase in British culture, “should’ve gone to…”.
Dame Mary Perkins, the co-founder of Specsavers, harks back to the time the company started life in a little shop on Bond Street in 1984.
is needed now More than ever
Dame Mary Perkins grew up in Bristol – photo: Betty Woolerton
“Back then, opticians didn’t have big shops and we didn’t have showrooms. We had rooms if you had a shop on the high street with venetian blinds,” the optometrist told Bristol24/7.
“People in Bristol were fascinated that we were the first to have big showrooms. Lots of people came in to just look and try on frames. We could help customers and they could come in, wander around and walk out again.”
She added: “Bristolians were thrilled to have somebody who had been trained to help them choose a frame.”
Perkins met her husband, Doug, during their optometry studies at Cardiff University, and the couple set up their own opticians when they were in their early twenties.
The husband and wife team have come a long way since their humble beginnings in the South West. Now, the company has over 2,000 branches, turning over billions of pounds each year.
Bond Street, where Debenhams now stands empty and boarded up – photo: Betty Woolerton
Multinational retailers are fading from the city centre, with Debenhams and M&S now gone from Broadmead – a site being reclaimed by independents.
Some 40 years on, Specsavers’ remains in Bristol and has grown to have over 10 premises in the region.
“Bristol still has a place in our hearts. I was born here, at the top of Christmas strips just opposite St. Michael’s Church,” said Perkins, who used to help out on reception at her father’s opticians in Bristol during the school holidays.
“I was brought up here and I didn’t leave here until 1980 to go to university. I have friends who are still here that I grew up with and relatives too.
“Because I knew Bristol so well and I’d worked here for 15 years, it only seemed natural to start Specsavers here. It is home, and a place I know so well.”
Main photo: Specsavers
Read more: The changing face of Broadmead
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