After the successful launch of our first Offspring store in 1996 in Covent Garden and then Camden, we set our sights on a little vibrant seaside town called Brighton.
Filling a niche for fashion and street footwear, Brighton was there to service its local community as well as the tourist that flock to it and nothing has changed since. 25 years on the store still stands, with its original vibrant shop fit and uniquely the same manager that opened it all those yours ago. We catch up with Mark on his long standing service and the store he calls his own.
Mark, your’re our longest standing manager. Tell us about yourself. How long have you been at the store?
I began my Offspring life in July 1999, I launched the Brighton store as manager and to this day I’m still driving the engine that powers this unique sneaker emporium.
I started off working in Sports Retail at the age of 16, unfortunately my dream of becoming a professional footballer was just that. I became a manager 6 years later, working for a company called Hargreaves, an independent sports retailer based in the south of England, in fact, I remember the Portsmouth flagship store launching the Adidas Micropacer in 1984, still my favourite shoe of all time!
I moved to Brighton in 1989 and became manager of Cobra Sports, initially a specialist of running shoes but quickly became a destination for the early demands of sneakers for fashion, Reebok was the brand, the Classic Leather became the archetypal pub shoe and with the boom of aerobics/fitness firmly embraced by the nation, huge numbers were made on the Freestyle Hi/Lo, Ex-O-Fit Hi etc.
I took some time off till early 1999. I was then made aware of an opportunity with ‘Offspring’ as manager of their new Brighton project, I took the job without hesitation and 25 years on, the same gig just keeps on giving!!
Can you remember the first day of opening the store?
I remember we opened on a Friday, it was 9th July, the look and feel of the space resonated with our pending public. The seeds were sown, and my job was to get this thing to grow and flourish. The sneaker scene 25 years ago was obviously so different, there was no culture of reselling, no web/social media for our brand, just the passion of the team to drive and vocalise it.
What was the sneaker scene like in Brighton 25 years ago, and what were customers buying back then?
The main brand at the time was Puma with the Mostro and Sprint leading the way, crazy numbers, I think we had about 15 colours of the Mostro with a couple of exclusive too, everybody seemed to be on the Puma bus and they were loving the journey, 2024/25
What are your favourite sneaker memories of the Brighton store so far?
Product wise, so, so many memories, back in 1999 we had a load of Reebok Pump Fury’s, a Japanese colour way, if only the kids knew then!! The Adidas Superstar 35 year anniversary music pack, a sublime collection, the disciplined and politeness of a queue awaiting the release of the Air Max 1 Atmos, the NMD launch, Brand Jordan exploding and currently Adidas, such a beautiful sight to behold as they currently dominate the scene.
We talk about community often now but it’s fair to say Brighton offspring is the antithesis of a community store. Tell us about it and about some of your fav locals?
Brighton is so unique, a free-thinking, diverse community, beautiful people who love their ‘loves’ too many individuals to mention, we were and always are a ‘community bus stop’ we love what we sell and that resonates with our people.
Tell us about your team. We heard they have also been with you for a long time.
My team are an amazing bunch of individuals, passionate, loyal, empathetic and happy (most of the time!!!), a very special mention to my AM, Ben ‘Beefy’ Mitchell, an incredible human being who has been with me for over 20 years, this man is a major reason our business has been and continues to flourish on all levels. The team are unique in terms of unrivalled loyalty, the last person I employed ‘new’ was over 5 years ago, unheard of in these times.
Whats you’re and the staff top picks at the moment?
Current faves of the team…
New Balance 1906
Nike Cortez OG
Nike Vomero Blue Metallic
Asics Kayano 14 Black Pure Silver
Adidas Osweego Offspring
Nike 180 White/Gold
Nike Zoom Spiridon Cage 2T Black
Nike Rift Black
Are you going to be there for another 25 years?
If I’m here in another 25 years I will certainly be demanding a blue plaque(more likely a blue badge though!!) and a statue!!
What would you love to see happen with Brighton offspring in the coming years?
All I want is for the continued showing of love, appreciation and loyalty from our wonderful customers, the nation’s favourite sneaker emporium, Brighton edition, will in turn reciprocate unequivocally, thank you all thus far x
