WE REGULARLY hear and read about the shopkeepers and traders of Malton bemoaning their lot about trade being slow.
On a recent visit to Malton to get a new battery put into my wristwatch, I went first to a jewellers I knew did this job. But, on arrival, the shop was boarded up and closed. Moving on to a second jewellers round the corner and asking the girl behind the counter if they did watch batteries, her reply was: “Yes, but he’s out today so we cannot do it.”
On my way back to the car, I noticed a cobblers shop in one street. Approaching the shopkeeper of this establishment and asking: “Do you do watch batteries”, his reply, “Yes, but it will be about 45 minutes.”
When I enquired why, his reply was: “I have loads of other jobs to do [the shop was empty] and I haven’t been standing around all day just waiting for one job to come in.”
As I walked away, I watched the shopkeeper take his dog for a walk up the street.
Lack of trade – or lack of customer relationships?
Tom Sawyer, Sycamore Close, Slingsby.
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