Desert Island Stores: Mark Fox
In this latest Desert Island Stores interview, Glynn Davis speaks with Mark Fox, former chief executive of Roadchef.
The store you remember from childhood?
My parents weren’t big shoppers so my early childhood was really just visits to the supermarket. International Stores that became Gateway which became Somerfield which became Coop! However, in my teens, when I was very sporty, I worked in a proper sports shop called Balan Sports in Pontypool. I loved it and learned to engrave trophies, string rackets, and learned my pronation from my supination so I could recommend running shoes. It was the kind of proper expert sports shop that is now, sadly, very rare and I loved working there. The discount was awesome too.
Most frequently used store?
Subscribe to TRBPhysical store, as a food guy/hungry person, would have to be Tesco. A local Tesco used to be reasonably good when a friend of mine ran it but over the years it’s reduced ranges (no quail eggs or truffle mayo) and is just okay now but it is super easy to get to and park and it works for the daily top-ups to our weekly Ocado/M&S delivery. I intersperse it with visits to Waitrose for some of the more refined products. Online I would say GymShark or On Running – I love their sports gear and shoes. Whilst I have more pairs of trainers than it’s sensible to have, my wife is like the Imelda Marcos of On running shoes!
The store you wished you’d created?
Garson’s Farm Shop in Esher. A veritable cornucopia of amazing food (there I go again) but also gardening supplies (we have a big garden), pond products, furniture, and homewares. It does an amazing Christmas bazaar too. Oh, and for good measure they have a lovely restaurant.
Your overall favourite store?
Globus, Rue de Rhone, in Geneva where we also lived for a few years after we left Madrid. It was across the road from my office in the centre of Geneva. It’s a department store with a great food hall and dining space. Great brands, great service, great products and right on the edge of Lac Léman. Idyllic setting, beautifully merchandised, great service, great brands and reassuringly Swissly expensive.
The store you’d like to take to the desert island?
Hmm – tough one. I’d probably say a Bass Pro Superstore. I remember visiting one in Grapevine, Dallas, when working in the USA. It would provide me with everything I need to hunt and fish, great clothing for the outdoor life, I could probably get a basketball that I could make my friend à la Castaway, and better still they sell speedboats that I could use to get home when I was done with island life.
