As I wrote in my last post, my daughter and I were heading to a nearby village to visit The Treasure Box, a seemingly magical store where you could find just about anything. However, what I didn’t write was that there was a reason we needed to go there this weekend – the store was closing down, and Saturday was their final day.
I know – sad-face, right?
Well, we certainly were sad when we got there and saw the store filled with people going in and out, cards strung across the room from well-wishers. It turns out that, after thirty-three years in business together, the charming couple who run the store are retiring. When I asked if someone would be taking over, they said no – a Simmonds Bakery was moving in.
You know, I like a baked good as much as the next person, but to hear that a chain store bakery would be taking over such a magical little shop was disappointing, to say the least. However, if I find I can go into this Simmonds and ask for any type of baked good I can think of, and they can then go into ‘the back room’ and get it for me, then I know that they’ll have tapped into the magical portal of wishes, or whatever it was back there that gave each shopper whatever it was they were looking for.
So my daughter and I rummaged through the boxes one last time, coming away with an eclectic assortment of goods including ribbons, a nail brush, metal skewers, a saucepan vegetable strainer, an umbrella and, our crowning glory, a giant bag of mixed buttons, which has kept the gorgeous girl busy for the better part of today as she sorts them into individual bags. We could have bought more, but budget and shopping bag constraints meant we had to be reasonable. We paid, then wished the couple well in their new life, thanking them for everything.
Then we stepped out the door for the last time, into a world a little more ordinary.
Aw, how sad. At least they went out with a bang though.
Yes, we were quite sad about it, but happy for them at the same time. Glad we got to visit on the last day 🙂
That’s sad, Helen. I agree, an eclectic shop beats baked goods from a chain company every time. Sometimes you just can’t pass down what’s kept you going, what you’ve contributed to the world. But it is sad that so many of our spaces and goods are homogenized. Originality gets squeezed out, or no longer affordable, in so many ways. I’m glad that you can carry the experience. Nothing to hold onto, everything to experience.
Thanks, Eilis. It is sad, and I think these kind of shops are becoming a thing of the past. The village itself is home to mostly independent small shops, so it was sad to see a chain moving in there as well. At least my daughter got to experience the magic store for a little while 🙂
That’s sad indeed – but nice that it’s because they’re retiring, and not some other horrible reason like they couldn’t make a go of it. Maybe the magic will go with them to their retirement, and they’ll have a magic little back room in their house where there are goodies and treats and maybe a door to a whole other world…
I think there might be a story in that, don’t you?
And yes, it’s a good thing – they said they were looking forward to retirement, so I could only be happy for them 🙂
I wanted to cry reading this; that’s so sad! At least you got to say good bye to it. When my favourite shop closed, I didn’t even know! I went to visit the one day, only to see its inside bare, and the picture that was painted on the window stripped away.
Oh no! That’s so sad you didn’t even get to say goodbye 😦
We were lucky in that I’d been in earlier in the week and seen the sign for the last day – otherwise we might have missed it.
That seems a real shame.
It was a shame, though I was happy for them. It remains to see whether it will be a magical bakery or not, though I’m thinking ‘not’ at the moment.
All bakeries are magical!
This is very true 😀
It’s very sad when small, years old, family run businesses have to close. End of a magical era!
Yes, especially when they’re replaced by chain stores. Seems to be the way of it now.
What a shame to hear that this wonderful little shop is closing. However, I expect it’s been very hard work for the couple who own the shop and now they are taking that well-earned rest. Good for them.
I hope the magic continues with the bakery, Helen.
Thanks, Hugh – me too 🙂 Will have to let you know through some careful experimentation (which will involve eating cakes – sigh)
Sounds like a great plan, Helen. Ask them for Welsh Cakes. You’ll know then if they are magical.
I will! That’s a great idea. If they don’t I guess I’ll just have to make my own 🙂
Homemade ones are the best, Helen. 😋
They so are! Warm from the griddle with a little bit of butter 🙂
That’s so sad. 😦 The bookstore (a book café, actually) around the corner from us is closing down next month. I understand why—online sales have severely affected their financial viability—but it’s sad to see it go. It was once so big and busy, and over the years I’ve watched the bookshelves contract and contract, until they only kept one copy of each book on their limited shelf space. They’ve now sold the store and are moving on. I said to my uncle recently that it’s happened time and again throughout history—jobs and stores have become obsolete—and I know it’s just progress and the changing times. Still sad, though.
That is really sad – I know it’s progress too, yet it seems more and more of late that ‘progress’ is being used as an excuse for people to save money, until one day there will be nothing of value left.