'MAJOR BLOW'
Legendary store to close after over 50 years as ‘upset’ shoppers mourn the loss of beloved business
It has seen a sharp decline in sales since the pandemic which means the doors will now shut for good
A LEGENDARY store is set to close after over 50 years with "upset" shoppers mourning its loss.
J Maher’s Garden and DIY hardware store on Lever Edge Lane in Bolton, first opened its doors in 1973.
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The shop is now run by owners Barrie and Janette Maher, after inheriting it from Barrie’s parents, Rita and Jack Maher.
The pair work in the store with their son, Jon, and five other members of staff.
For decades, the hardware shop was a cornerstone for the local community.
But it has seen a sharp decline in sales since the pandemic which means the doors will now shut for good.
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The popular store will pull down the shutters for the final time at the end of October.
It currently supplies allotment societies all over Greater Manchester, South Lancashire and Merseyside as well as bowling clubs, landscapers, schools, trade gardeners and nurseries.
The business has been struggling partly due to the rise in online shopping.
Barrie told : “After Covid, the way of shopping changed, people are going to big brands.
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"We even set up our own website, but we struggled to compete as the bigger brands will always be at the top of the search.
“It’s like a depression over the whole country, people haven’t been to the store in the same way since before the pandemic."
He added: "We’ve been here fifty-one years, people know us, and we have a great relationship with all our loyal customers, we know them by name and by sight.
“It’s upset a lot of people – since we announced the closure, the news has spread really quickly.”
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The proposed ban on bagged peat composts by the end of this year has also been a “major blow” says owner, Barrie, as the businesses' “niche product” was a large range of peat-based composts.
Janette told the outlet that the store sold last week via auction but they were not sure who bought the area or what it'll be used for.
She added: “The staff weren’t stupid, they could sense that things were wrapping up. We’ve been scaling down for the past six months trying to shift our stock.
“The shop was a pillar in the community – my mum used to go dancing and the old blokes would always ask about the shop because they owned allotments, it was very much loved by people."
Devastated patrons of the shop were quick to take to social media after news of the closure.
One wrote on Facebook: "Another great shop to close,It always remind me of a small Gregory & Porritts if Maher didn’t have it then nobody did,Always had lovely bedding plants & Xmas trees.
"So sad to see them go."
Another added: "Absolutely gutted!.....been a major supplier for my gardening business for many years.....all the best Baz Jeanette and Jonathan."
Meanwhile, a third said: "Brilliant shop, the owners are full of knowledge. Shame it is closing.";
"Yet another great shop to close. It’s the best hardware store for miles. Friendly staff always helpful. What a great loss I travelled from the other side of Bolton to visit here," said another saddened customer.
But Janette said that there were still positives to look at despite the closure.
She continued: "We’re planning to use our retirement to travel the world and make new memories.
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“We’d like to thank our loyal customers who’ve given us business over the past years.
"We’ve had some great customers and members of staff who’ve stayed loyal to us. They have worked to make the store what it was.”
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun's business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
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