News-eum: An iconic store from humble beginnings

At Highway Mail, we found something fascinating that we thought you may enjoy taking a peak at – we unearthed some archived Highway Mail papers from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Sub-editor Kathy Bosman will showcase some of these old articles and look at how things have changed since then in the community, the area and the world at large. While leafing through the yellowed pages of the Highway Mail, we came across numerous adverts for the clothing store, Miladys. Most of the art for the adverts was hand-drawn, and well, the prices were something to stop and make you think, ‘Those were the good old days!’ So, we decided to look into Miladys further and were so excited to make contact with the son of one of the founding ladies who started the store in the 1940s.

THE iconic and popular ladies’ clothing store, Miladys, has been a stalwart in South Africa for decades. Now a member of the Mr Price group, Miladys started off as a privately owned dress shop in Pinetown in the Highway area in 1947. The first store was opened by Hannah Ellison and Valerie Bailey in Crompton Street with humble beginnings.

Highway Mail made contact with the late Hannah Ellison’s son, Roger Ellison, who has resided in Australia since 1997. He shared his memories of the store.

The first Miladys store was a single room in the single-storey Hough House on Crompton Street, a block or so from the corner of Crompton Street and Old Main Road. The dress shop soon grew too large for a single room, and so in 1949, Ellison and Bailey moved the store to a spot in the newly built eight-storey Nichols Building just up the road.

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“Next door to Miladys, which fronted on Crompton Street, was Dinklemans toys and cycles, which was owned by Derek Dinkleman. In the single-storey section of Nichols Building (to the right of the highrise) were a few shops going round into Hill Street. I remember Trevor Crozier had a photoshop there. I think, at one stage, he also owned Gaiety Theatre – Pinetown’s cinema, where in the 40s, I enjoyed Tarzan in black and white with Johnny Weismuller as Tarzan. Gaiety Theatre is out of the picture, opposite Hough House,” says Roger, referring to the aerial photo of Crompton Street.

“Further to the left of Nichols Building is Wareings Bakery who made the most delicious pies. After school, I would sometimes drop into Miladys and ask Mom for a lift home, but she usually suggested I walk the two miles and gave me some money for a pie and glass of milk which came to 1/7d (1 shilling and 7 pence = 0.16c). Dad taught at Glenwood High – bookkeeping, maths and arithmetic. He loved gardening and built beds using concrete blocks he made in a mould and grew carnation slips which he sold to nurseries.

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What sparked the start

“In 1946, after my older brother, Colin, and I started at Pinetown School, Mom had time on her hands and thought of starting a dress shop. Dad had saved money from the carnations which he thought they could use for seed capital. Our friends and neighbours at the time were Aaron and Cissie Beare who lived in Doone Estate. Aaron was a founder of Beare Brothers [furniture retailer], and my parents consulted with him. He’d tried a dress department in Beare Brothers and said that fashions change quickly and you’re stuck with last year’s stock – good advice which they heeded later, focusing more on everyday clothes rather than high fashion.

“Mom thought she could do the admin but wanted someone good with sales. Mrs Valerie Bailey answered their ad and was happy with the offer of a half partnership but no pay for a while – as they sank all the money into stock and weren’t able to pay anyone in the beginning. She was a wonderful person that everyone took to, and in no time, the little business flourished, and around 1949, they moved into a much bigger store with offices at the back in Nichols Arcade.

“Years later, they had expanded to three stores around Pinetown, and they sold to a consortium of mostly John Orr directors who liked the name and style – everyday rather than high fashion – and opened stores around South Africa,” Roger says.

You may be interested that:

1. Hannah Ellison lived until the ripe old age of 93.
2. Aaron Beare donated his beautiful home and farm to a retirement home now named Doone Village.
3. In 1987, retail entrepreneurs Stewart Cohen and Laurie Chiappini bought Miladys to build the Mr Price Group.
4. In 2007, the Miladys stores were revamped by the Mr Price Group.
5. Miladys has over 200 stores in South Africa and some neighbouring countries.
6. Miladys is the only women’s retailer to offer sizes 32 to 50 across all of their fashion.

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