Period House shop in Warwick is forced to close...

A Warwick shop that has lived in a time warp, retaining all its original fixtures and fittings, is to finally close its doors.



The Period House Shop, in Market Place, occupies a Grade II listed building that dates back to the 1840s and will be remembered by older residents of the town as the ironmongers Wylies.

Simon Holloway, who owns the business says: “We are closing because it seems to us all the shopping happens in Leamington - and the council keeps digging up the roads.”

The shop will close on October 18, just before the Warwick Mop, leaving manager Charlie Collett (pictured above and right) redundant and his 73-year-old part-time assistant Alan Wright set for retirement.

Sitting amidst tins of Zebra paste grate polish and lion’s head door knockers, Mr Collett said: “While our stock is made in the company’s own brass foundry or fashioned by our blacksmith, most of the shop fittings haven’t changed since 1895.

“Some people say this place looks a bit like that shop used in the Two Ronnies’ television sketch where Ronnie Barker is trying to buy four candles!”

The original Wylies closed some 20 years ago after a niece who inherited the business travelled to the Period House Shop in Ludlow to see if owner Mr Holloway wanted to buy any of the close-to-antique stock.

In fact when Mr Holloway walked through the door he decided it would be a crime to change anything, including the original woodgrain wallpaper. Eventually he took over the lease and turned the Warwick business into the third of his specialist shops catering for owners of older properties, or those who want to add a bit of period character to more modern homes.

His other shop, in Shrewsbury, is flourishing along with the one in Ludlow.

But Mr Holloway said: “In recent years the Warwick business has dwindled and we are now only taking about a third of what we need to take. It seems to us that all the shopping happens in Leamington.”

Although all three shops have an online presence, Mr Holloway still believes customers enjoy visiting his premises.

He said: “We are a destination shop with customers travelling to buy from us but we do also need a lot of passing trade - and the council keeps digging up the roads. We could think about opening in Leamington at some point in the future.”

The Warwick shop is three-storeys tall and is set in front of a courtyard which dates backto the sixteenth century and houses one of the oldest cafes in the town - called Wylies in memory of the original ironmongers.

The building is actually owned by Chris Swan of Cobalt Developments, who bought it some years ago.

Mr Swan said: “I certainly wouldn’t say Warwick is not a shopping town. The shop is in a great position - since advertising the lease we’ve certainly had a good amount of interest.”

History to be saved? Warwick’s time capsule Victorian shop may win reprieve



DESPITE being due to close this week, hopes have been raised for a last minute reprieve for a shop in the middle of Warwick that still looks the same as it did in Victorian times.

Television, radio and national newspapers all picked up on The Courier’s story about The Period Shop in Market Place - which bares a resemblence to the famous Two Ronnies fork handles comedy sketch. And because of the publicity, its has sold more reproduction brass fixtures and fittings in the past month than it has in the last year and a half.

Charlie Collett, the manager of the Grade II listed building which dates back to the 1840s still can’t believe how busy he’s been. He’s even begun learning how to use social networking sites like Twitter in a bid to get into 21st century retailing.

Most older residents of Warwick remember the hardware shop as Wylies. Its interior has hardly changed since 1895. But trade has dwindled in recent years which led to the present owner of the business, Simon Holloway, taking the decision to give up the lease he took over 12 years ago from the last of the Wylie family.

Mr Holloway already owns two other successful Period House shops in Ludlow and Shrewsbury and all three businesses marketed items online. Last month he decided he could no longer continue to subsidise the Warwick business where trade was only a third of what it needed to be to remain viable.

Since then Mr Holloway has been invited to talks with local MP Chris White and Cllr Michael Doody, chairman of Warwick District Council, both keen to see what could be done. He’s also appeared on Central Television and Radio 4’s You and Yours programme.

The shop was due to close yesterday (Thursday) and be completely cleared by November 3. This hasn’t put off interest from several potential new leasees keen to occupy the building which has a rent of some £20,000 a year.

The latest twist came on Tuesday when Mr Holloway revealed that while it was unprofitable for him to continue owning the business, he was trying to help Mr Collett to organise some sort of financial package that just might allow his manager to take over the lease. He was also prepared to continue supplying the traditional hardware items that customers with character properties came to buy.

Mr Holloway explained: “I have had talks with several people, including the leader of Warwick District Council and the local MP. The shop is not economically viable for me but perhaps if I could help Mr Collett stitch up some sort of financial deal then he could perhaps keep it open.

“I always felt it would be a crime to change that wonderful interior - it would certainly be a loss to Warwick.”

The difficulty for Mr Collett is that he is trying to take over an established business. He would be eligible for lower rates and rents if he started a new business. This week he was holding 11th hour discussions with agents acting on behalf of the locally-based owners of the building, Cobalt Developments.