Hardware Shops

[Diver Fred]

So is just an East Anglian occurrence or a National one.

In the Ipswich area there is one of the best (and best known) hardware shops closes its doors in the next few weeks.

I went there yesterday to see they have a closing sale on - I did actually want a specific tool which I know they stocked - which I actually did get. I'm sure they will be sorely missed by both the trade and many DIYers.

But it isn't just them as others are closing as well - see links from this. Do we regard this as a worrying trend? I do, having seen so many proper shops of this ilk and tool specific shops disappear since the turn of the century.

 

[Dec27]

So is just an East Anglian occurrence or a National one.

In the Ipswich area there is one of the best (and best known) hardware shops closes its doors in the next few weeks.

I went there yesterday to see they have a closing sale on - I did actually want a specific tool which I know they stocked - which I actually did get. I'm sure they will be sorely missed by both the trade and many DIYers.

But it isn't just them as others are closing as well - see links from this. Do we regard this as a worrying trend? I do, having seen so many proper shops of this ilk and tool specific shops disappear since the turn of the century.

We used to have a little one locally, he could get anything. But unfortunately it had closed the last time I went.

It’s a sign of the times

 

[Elsa TLC]

Bunnings didn't lat long unfortunately but where the best of the bunch.

 

[Highway Man]

We have had a few close down which have been long standing in the community, they are the corner shops of DIY, the likes of B&Q, SF etc have put the nail in their coffin.

 

[Koolpc]

When I was a kid, I remember several ironmonger shops in the town....

 

[ReganAndCarter]

When I was a kid, I remember several ironmonger shops in the town....

We had two in this small suburb of Bristol. One closed long ago, other closed recently, but has reopened again under different ownership. The long closed one used to have a paraffin pump inside and the smell of paraffin always takes me back to that shop. Not sure you would get away with that these days.

 

[Koolpc]

We used to have a lorry come around selling paraffin etc when I was knee high to a grasshopper!

 

[SPLINE]

Without knowing the shops you are all talking of, I can confidently state that they will have been taxed out of existence, one way or another. Our commie governments hate private businesses, especially traditional ones. Whenever I hear of a pub, a beloved high street shop, or something like a sports club or concert hall closing down - the cold, dead hand of government will be behind it; these things don't just happen. Join the dots people.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Bunnings didn't lat long unfortunately but where the best of the bunch.

It wasn't really Bunnings. It was a takeover and re-brand of the failing Homebase, they didn't change much and gave up after a very short time, then sold the entire company for £1 as it was in debt up to its eyeballs so was worthless.

Homebase - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

We've got a new one that's just opened. See how long it lasts.

The problem is though that everything is Chinese tat anyway. You may as well just buy directly from Temu or AliExpress instead of paying a British (or probably not) middleman twice the price for the same rubbish from China.

The days when you could buy tools and parts that were made in the UK are gone anyway, they've been taxed and regulated out of existence by successive governments since about 2000 onwards. We don't make anything now.

 

[mikehammer69]

We've got a new one that's just opened. See how long it lasts.

The problem is though that everything is Chinese tat anyway. You may as well just buy directly from Temu or AliExpress instead of paying a British (or probably not) middleman twice the price for the same rubbish from China.

The days when you could buy tools and parts that were made in the UK are gone anyway, they've been taxed and regulated out of existence by successive governments since about 2000 onwards. We don't make anything now.

Do you ever have anything good to say about anything

 

[Elsa TLC]

It wasn't really Bunnings. It was a takeover and re-brand of the failing Homebase, they didn't change much and gave up after a very short time, then sold the entire company for £1 as it was in debt up to its eyeballs so was worthless.

Homebase - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

They did. It was much better than Homebase. They got their market wrong. They would stock things that wouldn't sell in the UK that sold well in Australia.