Shop to close after 40 years
Malcolm and Sandra Green are closing down the wool shop in abbey gate street
A couple knitted together by their love for the wool trade have decided to call time on a career spanning nearly four decades.
Rendell’s Wool Shop, run by Malcolm and Sandra Green, has been part of the fabric of Bury St Edmunds’ Abbeygate Street since 1973, when they took over the store from Millets.
Having kept the town’s knitters well-stocked with thousands of miles of wool over the years, the shop will close on January 2 after the pair decided to retire.
Malcolm, 77 - Sandra is 69 - said the industry had changed since they opened their first shop in Sudbury in 1962.
“Selling knitting wool was very good business in those days.
“We used to open the store on a Saturday and there would be people queuing at the counter all day.
“It was the only thing to keep the family warm and clothes were expensive,” he said.
The couple soon branched out into ladies clothing and eventually ran eight shops in East Anglia by 1989, including stores in Thetford and Diss.
All the stores, barring the Bury one, were closed by 2001.
The couple, who live in the flat above the shop, celebrated 50 years of trading this year, having had their golden wedding anniversary last year.
Malcolm said they would be taking it easy in their retirement.
“We haven’t got any designs on doing anything in particular, it will just be nice to go out in the spring and summer - as a shop keeper you are stuck,” he said.
He added that they will try to lease the shop out in the New Year.
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Friday 24 May 2013
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