Sadly On Monday 1st January 2007 Our Village Shop Closed.
I feel that when a Village Shop closes it is almost as though the heart of the village has gone, it has been a part of village life for so long! In addition to providing goods for sale, it is also a focal point and a meeting place for everyone concerned! How many times have you gone to the shop and bumped into someone you know or met a new resident of the village who you would otherwise never have got to know? A place to catch up on the gossip, ask about someone who has not been well lately or just have a laugh with other people! I am sure all of this will be missed so much. We can all sit back and say: "I would not have done that" or "it should have been done this way" but at the end of the day a business has to provide a living. When it can no longer do this, then it is time to think long and hard, as I believe both David and Fay did for a considerable time, before making the decision to close. I personally would like to take this opportunity to Thank Both David & Fay for being there when a member of my family needed help and wish then luck for the future. Webmaster. The Post Office is NO LONGER OPEN. I thank Colin Vickers for sending the information Below: For the first time in over one hundred and fifty years Saltfleetby is without a village shop. New Years Day saw the doors close for the last time on the local store, a sad day for the village losing this very valuable amenity. The present building was erected in 1989, but prior to that the shop had been part of the house known as “The Fisheries”, having been purpose built in 1889 by Tom and Eunice Flear (nee Vickers), and from that time until 1991 was run by various members of the Vickers family. Nothing was changed until 1974 when the shop was extended, taking in the hall and lounge of the house, and making a mini super-market type sales area. In the early 1950’s the shop had joined the “Spar” group and this meant that they were able to price their goods more competitively, and to boost trade offered a six day delivery service round the village. Trading hours at that time were 6-30am. to 6-00pm. Mon. Tues. Thurs. Fri. Sat. and 6-30am. to 1-00pm. Wednesday. In the late 1980’s these had been extended to 6-00am. to 10-00pm.Mon. to Saturday, and 8-00 am. to 8-00pm.Sunday. This was also coming up to the time when the last of the Vickers family was due to retire, so a decision had to be made about the future of the shop. It had given various members of the family a living over the years and it was felt that to close it would take away an essential facility, so it was decided to knock the old warehouse down and build a new shop on the site. This was completed in August 1989, and on the retirement of the owner in 1991 the leasehold on the property was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Baxter. The Saltfleetby post office had closed in the spring of 1991. The Baxter’s applied for it to be reinstated in the shop, and their application was granted. They stayed until 1995 and were followed by Mr. and Mrs. Madge to Nov.2000, Mr. and Mrs. Knox to Nov. 2004, and then the present owners of the lease Dave Pearce and Fay Broughton. Their decision to close the shop was not taken lightly, but sadly, they say, they were not getting enough support from the ‘villagers’ and without customers, businesses cannot survive. If you have any comments that you would like to make regarding the closure of the village shop, please either enter them in our Guestbook or contact me. |
