Many magical memories

Were you fitted for a pair of Magic Steps or Wallabee shoes with the famous Clarks foot gauge?

Clarks supplied independent stores and then started the Peter Lord chain. Dundonians of a certain vintage will remember its distinctive yellow shop frontage.

The shoe shop stood at the corner of Murraygate and Commercial Street from 1974, and included the electronic foot gauge.

Peter Lord sold Clarks Commandos in the 1970s, which were “action shoes for tough assignments” and had a small compass in the heel. The shoes came in a mock ammunition box.

A comic strip promoted the range and followed the adventures of Kit Carter. Kids loved them.

The shoes played an important, if unlikely, role in Dundee music history.

The band Danny Wilson grew out of Clark’s Commandos, formed by Gary Clark and former classmate Ged Grimes when they left Dundee to seek fame and fortune in London.

Peter Lord was draped in Russian writing and doubled for a Moscow shoe shop in 1983 when the BBC TV film An Englishman Abroad was filmed in Dundee.

The film was directed by John Schlesinger and starred Alan Bates as Guy Burgess, Coral Browne and 007 Diamonds Are Forever bad guy Charles Gray.

The ultimate fairytale shoes arrived in the Murraygate in 1987.

It seemed every girl in Dundee was going back to school wearing Clarks Magic Steps shoes with a secret key in the sole. They cost £16.99.

Maybe you bought the Desert boot or the Wallabee?

Dedicated Clarks shops did not appear on British high streets until 1984.

Peter Lord was gone in 1989, with the move to bigger premises in the Murraygate and a name change to reflect the brand of shoes being sold.

Clarks first Dundee store opened with a promise to cover people’s footwear needs “from the time they’re in their prams for as long as they live”. Clarks advertised “an exciting range to suit all tastes and pockets”.

The shop at 55 Murraygate was just along from Wimpy during the halcyon days of the famous Bender meaty frankfurter.

It was the largest Clarks shop in Scotland in 1989 and opening offers included a children’s colouring competition and hundreds of pairs of women’s boots substantially cut in price.

Hats, balloons and badges were given away to young customers.

Summer stock arrived two months ahead of schedule to mark the opening. These included the extremely popular Clarks Bubbles range.

The store opened from 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Saturday and they didn’t just sell shoes.

There was a range of handbags and a big selection of tights. Other accessories included clip-on shoe bows described as “an inexpensive way of getting two pairs of shoes, one plain and one fancy, for the price of one!”

For children, there were character socks and shoes stocked for “little fans of Postman Pat and similar heroes”.

The through-the-keyhole power of a newspaper advertising feature described the “light, airy, welcoming air” of the new shop in 1989.

The Clarks’ house colours of grey and green were combined with white “to give an almost rural atmosphere, to make shopping a relaxing pleasure”.

Manager Brian Mcculley said staff were encouraged to treat children as the customers and “not just as an accompaniment to adult customers”.

“Children’s foot care is something we take very seriously in Clarks, and it’s not unknown for our expert staff to discourage, or even politely turn away, a customer who insists on something quite unsuitable for a child’s foot,” he said.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that when a young child needs his or her first shoes, a good start to foot care – a Clarks start, dare we say

– is absolutely vital for foot health throughout life. What we are in Clarks is a national chain, with all the advantages that implies, allied to a local, friendly, traditional level of service to the customer.”

The ladies’ department was on the right and men’s range was on the left.

Why was the children’s department on the first floor?

Brian said: “It is our policy, from a safety point of view, not to have children’s’ departments on the ground floor, as in many locations it would be only too easy for a child to rush straight out of the door into traffic, with possibly tragic consequences.

“I know the Murraygate is a pedestrian precinct, but that doesn’t mean there is never a vehicle there – and this is particularly true at the moment, with the amount of building and renovation work going on.”

Britpop later brought new customers to Clarks shoe shop in Dundee.

The Wallabee reached kingpin footwear status in 1997 during the Britpop era with Richard Ashcroft and Liam Gallagher wearing a pair.

These were the shoes of Cool Britannia. They prompted many a young man to rush to the Murraygate to buy them.

Clarks was also known for doing its bit for charity.

It became a collection point for the area during the Blue Peter Shoe Biz appeal.

These shoes were recycled and used to buy essential items to help disadvantaged children in Malawi.

But as they say in business, nothing is forever.

People started to turn their back on the high street with the growth of internet shopping. The lease expired in July 2023.

The store ran several sales and shelves were nearly empty on its final day in the city.

Clarks was replaced on Murraygate in less than a month by Candylicious, which closed almost as quickly as it opened, and it is now the handbag and clothing store Glossy.

All that is left of Clarks now is magical memories.

The shop stocked a varied range of footwear styles for customers.