Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Independent hardware and housewares retailer Goldings of Bedford is set to close after trading on Bedfordshire county town’s high street for 152 years.
Announcing the news on Facebook yesterday (Monday July 8), the Goldings team said: ‘It is with deep and sad regret that Goldings of Bedford Ltd has no choice but to run a closing down sale and to cease trading.
‘As many of our loyal customers are aware, we have been struggling for a while now, and the footfall on the High Street is now pretty much non-existent.
‘We have tried to stay relevant over our 152-year history (including the Boer, First and Second World Wars plus the Great Depression) but today’s internet society and other stores which provide the same products as us but cheaper because they are multi-national companies have made it impossible to continue.
‘This has not been an easy decision; we have held on for as long as we can. The reality is, however, we just cannot sustain our product lines and our service for so few customers. We are devastated.’
Goldings of Bedford first opened its doors in 1867. In September 2017 the business, bought by husband and wife team Kate and Chris Temple in 2015, marked its 150th birthday with a party.
At the time, general manager Kate told ‘Housewares Magazine’ that the shop offered 35,000 lines “from Airfix model kits to fireside sets, saucepans to fireworks, onion bulbs to compost, and everything in between”. She said key housewares suppliers included KitchenCraft, Taylor’s Eye Witness, distributor Aljec, electrical wholesaler Jegs and hardware wholesaler Decco McMinn.
PHOTO: Jon Pauling
