Jane Caldow – The different departments at Cross Street

Jane: Well, my mother ran that [Cross Street] building, so sadly she would have been the person to talk to but …

Simon: But it was still part of the main business, but …

Jane: It was still part of the business, absolutely, but then my aunt stayed in Union Street and mummy ran Cross Street and my mother also ran the Jaeger Boutique, she always did that one, plus Shanklin and the West Wight businesses with my father. So, you’ve got the Ground Floor at Cross Street, you went in those doors there and that was then the Children’s Department, and then the back long narrow bit was the Menswear and Boys. So, that was the Ground Floor at Cross Street, and then you had the Green Fingers. And then you went up that main stair …

Simon: Green Fingers being a separate shop to the …

Jane: It was separate and it had its own little door but that was originally part of the building. I think in later years it was … I think that was sold off, I don’t know all the ins and outs of the building as such. And you went up the Ground Floor, so you went up into the First Floor …

Simon: This is up the grand staircase.

Jane: The big staircase going up and you went left into the bit that later got sealed off above Bright & Minns the Dry Cleaners, and that was called the Marwood Room and that was larger sized fashions, because in the days of the Fashion Shows, there was a lovely lady who was called Mrs Marwood, who came in the ‘60s and ‘70s who modelled for us for donkeys years, and it was named after her.

Simon: Oh, that’s lovely.

Jane: And it was the Marwood Room, and so that was the sort of more plus sized fashions on that side. And then you went through into Children’s Shoes which were all the Norvic Shoes, they were a really well-known shoe, because the girl who ran that with mummy, she went off and did all the training to fit the children’s shoes properly and everything else, Avril, and she ran the Children’s and then there was the main Shoe Department which was Lotus, Trickers, really good names, and then you went through from the Shoe Department, you went through, they had a small Linen Department, so towels, sheets, used to have the Baker’s fabrics and things and into The Coffee Bean.