CLOSING TIME
Beloved hardware store to shut after 109 years as locals sob ‘what a shame, have relied on them all my life’
The family business has been running since 1915
SHOPPERS have been left sobbing after a staple hardware store announced a shocking closure - ending 109 years of legacy.
Iconic DIY store Dockerills in Church Street, Brighton, said the business will shut its doors forever in September this year.
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Brighton's Dockerill is the last branch of the family business that has been operating since the business started in 1915 by Walter Dockerill.
The Church Street unit was bought by the Dockerill family in the '70s and went on to become a staple stop for locals.
In a statement, Dockerills said: "It is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of our Dockerills high street store at the end of September.
"The business has been a part of the North Laine community for over 100 years and was established in Regent House, Church Street in the mid-70s."
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Devasted shoppers flocked to social media sites to share their sadness over the decision to close the site.
One Facebook user said: "What a shame, I have relied on this shop for almost all my life.
Another shopper wrote: "It was a great shop."
A third person added: "Desperately sad news but in this terrible new computer tech online shopping world I'm sad to say not unexpected."
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It is understood that the shop was struggling due to less footfall as many shoppers now prefer to order DIY items from online e-commerce stores.
Mr Gayler, one of the directors of Dockerills, told The Argus: "There isn’t the natural family progression anymore. Footfall is declining, people’s shopping baskets have changed and they are spending less.
"But our customer service has always won people over, our staff are very knowledgeable and we give people a traditional shopping experience you don’t get anymore. We always tried to keep prices fair."
Ryan Gayler, who is married to Karen, Walter Dockerill’s granddaughter, added: "It has been really tough. We have tried to change so much and we have tried everything.
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"We made drastic changes during Covid including the unit next door being sold."
It is understood that the family will continue to work from their main office - and the store site will be given out to tenants.
Meanwhile, a major retailer with around 300 British stores closed an "essential" outlet for good just days ago.
Another DIY store which boasts 145 branches nationwide pulled down the shutters on one of its stores in April.
Homebase permanently shut the doors on its Syon Lane store - prompting a closing-down sale.
It is important to note that just because a chain is closing a shop, it doesn't necessarily mean it's struggling.
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Most stores close because companies try to reorganise and cut costs rather than the business failing.
In some instances, a company may have to close a store because they can't agree to terms with the landlord.
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.