Perhaps we need to talk about Fletcher Jones

or rather, the demise of Fletcher Jones.

Let me explain for those of you in Upover. Fletcher Jones was once a clothing store here in Downunder. I would not normally even consider writing about any clothing store. Those of you who know me that I am not someone to wear "good" clothes. I do not "dress up" to go out. I go to the library, the shops, the post office, to the doctor and the dentist wearing the same style of jeans I have worn for years. The jeans have actually not dated. People ask where I found some with the oh-so-useful pockets. 

But, Fletcher Jones? There is a story here, perhaps not a big story but still an important story. 

David Fletcher Jones was the son of a Cornish tin miner. He had a severe stammer as a child and it was one of the things which led him to leave school at the age of twelve. For a while it seemed he had overcome his stammer but it returned when he suffered shell shock while serving in WWI. (He was reportedly buried alive for some hours.)  His thoughts of being a missionary in China were halted by the stammer. What else could he do?

On his return however he took up the unlikely occupation of door-to-door salesman, then bought a clothing shop in his home town and built up a business from there. He worked on the basis of cash only and insisted people be fitted for the trousers they were buying. He also insisted on quality. WWII brought a contract for the services and his workmen's trousers were also highly regarded. All this was enough to build the factory in his home town.

It is there where the story starts to get really interesting. He insisted the factory had to have a garden, a proper garden for the staff to spend time in. They could eat their lunch there or just sit. It became a tourist attraction. I was taken to visit it as a child and it was definitely an attraction with the pool and the well kept gardens. Yes, it must have cost something but this was a workforce that he cared about.

And it went from there to something even more extraordinary. He gradually turned it into a "co-operative". At first the staff had a one third interest but he gradually turned it over so they had a two thirds interest in the company. It worked. 

By the mid-50s they were doing well enough to branch out into women's clothing. It was clothing which lasted. My paternal grandfather, a tailor, actually approved of the factory made clothing from that company. It met his very high standards for "off the rack" when he was considering the need to retire. (He was in his 80s by then.) 

My mother bought a skirt from Fletcher Jones. It was the sort of classic garment which does not go out of style. Hemlines did not bother her too much and she wore it for over thirty years. On entering teacher training college (where we were not permitted to wear trousers!) my parents bought me a "kilt skirt". It could be let out if I put on weight. (I did not. That came much later.) I finally discarded it when I moved here - almost half a century later. Their clothing lasted.  

But it seems all good things come to an end. We were run over by the big American chain store idea. We now have places like BigW, KMart, Target and the like. They sell cheap clothing imported from Asia. People buy it believing they have a bargain. It is often bright and "in fashion". It is "throw away". Mountains of it get thrown away. Recycling is at a minimum. Much of it is polyester. It has contributed to the demise of the wool industry. It is not clothing which is intended to last.

So Fletcher Jones, a company which served us and those employed there so well is going to be gone. I don't consider it progress.