Glasswells Grows
1946 -
Jerry Glasswell Opens His First Shop
Partners from the beginning
Experience with furniture auctions had given Jerry Glasswell a glimpse of the potential in the world of furniture. So, with £2,000 left from the sale of property in London, and £300 his son Leslie had saved whilst serving in the RAF, they pooled resources and opened the shop at 35 Brentgovel Street, selling secondhand furniture, china and glass. However the search for premises had not been easy, and it was only with the surety from local solicitor Tom Wilson that they agreed a rent with the owners, of £100 a year.
Opening day came in May 1946, and Jerry and Leslie were partners from the very beginning, later taking on Jerry's brother Frank and brother-in-law Tom Buckle as their first employees. The start-up business though, was not viable to provide everyone with a living, so Jerry's wife Ethel helped run the shop, while the men continued their work as freelance porters at the local auctions. This was an ideal combination, as the sales were also a means of acquiring stock for resale.
The following year they took over the lease of the property next door, doubling their selling space. As a result, turnover jumped from £5,000 in 1946 to £12,000 in 1947, reaching £20,000 a year later. Secondhand furniture, however, was in great demand and becoming difficult to acquire, so, with post war production of new furniture returning to normal, they took the decision in 1948 to sell only new furniture. Jerry's daughter Peggy then joined the business, as cashier and wages clerk, but also helping to run their own hire purchase scheme.
Brentgovel St.
Bury St. Edmunds
An eye to the future
Following the successful development of further shops in Haverhill, and in Bury at the Corn Exchange and St Andrews Street, 1961 saw the start of major improvement work at Brentgovel Street, which was to eventually specialise in beds, bedrooms and electrical appliances. Then in 1975, following the deaths of the property owners, Leslie managed to purchase the entire block stretching from number 32 to 36, with an eye to future development!
After several years of negotiations and planning problems (including the discovery of timbers from an original town gateway), to great acclaim, Glasswells opened their new furniture department store in1985, on a site that had included the original shop at number 35.
1950 -
Time to Expand With A Second Store
A permanent site in Haverhill
Following the success of the first furniture exhibitions in Haverhill, the decision was taken to seek out permanent premises in the town. This was soon achieved with the acquisition of the old Post Office in Queen Street in 1950. Manager was Joe Groom.
In those days, Haverhill had a population of less than 5000. Leslie recalls, “Some shops closed on Wednesdays’ and Saturdays because there were so few people about. If you fired a gun down the High Street on a Saturday, the only thing you were likely to hit was a stray dog”. Nonetheless, Glasswells did good business drawing in trade from a wide area.
A major town expansion agreement with the then London authority was destined to change the face of Haverhill in the next few years, bringing in many new industries and considerable growth in population. Glasswells confidence in the future of the town proved to be well founded.
They seized the opportunity to expand in 1960, renting a 4,500 sq.ft. double unit in the new Queens Square development. The new store did so well that the old problem of space cropped up again. So when, in 1964, a shop opposite became vacant, Glasswells had had no hesitation in taking it on to open a carpet centre. By then, Terry Glasswell, Leslie’s cousin, had joined the company to look after the firm’s financial systems and to develop the credit facilities.
Haverhill New development
The next development in Haverhill came as a surprise when in 1977 the council asked Leslie to consider re-developing an important town centre site, building a large store for themselves plus a further seven stores linking up to a new Sainsburys. Agreement was reached, with an estimated cost of £220,000. It was an attractive deal which meant a big new shop for themselves as well as becoming substantial landlords. Building began in 1977, and in the autumn of 1978, TV personality Nicholas Parsons came down to open the new complex. Glasswells had a modern new 10,000sq.ft.store and all seven shops had been let.
The latest development at Haverhill store came in late 2005 with a complete interior and exterior refurbishment, resulting in a much improved store layout, including brand new carpets, curtains, linens and beds departments.
1952 The Biggest Store Yet
A new two story shop
On 14th August 1952 Leslie Glasswell married Heather Rogers at St. Mary’s Church, Bury St. Edmunds. The second most significant event, however, came with the opportunity to gain additional storage space in St. Andrews Street South. The property, an old coach house with earth floors, was just around the corner to the Brentgovel Street shop and belonged to the same landlords. The lease was successfully negotiated by Jerry and Leslie and was eventually extended to include two attached cottages. “It wasn’t long before we thought of adding a shop front” recalls Leslie.
Local builder, Harvey Frost, was engaged to draw up plans for a single story shop extension with windows facing St. Andrews Street, at an estimated cost of £5,000. The final result however, was a two story shop costing double the estimate at £10,000. The new building, their biggest to date, was opened by the Mayor of Bury, Councillor W. Bevis Southgate on 9th October 1954. The Bury Free Press carried their first full page advertisement since the war, which confidently stated, “this is the first completely new building to be erected by a local born trader for over 50 years”.The new store, with over 3,000 sq.ft. provided much needed space for furniture displays.
The business at this stage consisted of Jerry, Leslie and Frank Glasswell, Tim and Peggy Reardon, Don Boughton (eventual manager of St. Andrews Street), Leslie Fiddy and Mrs Edith Day, book-keeper.
St. Andrews Street
Bury St. Edmunds
Looking to expand
In the 1960’s, trade at the St. Andrews Street store, under manager Don Boughton, surpassed all expectations, and Jerry, Leslie and general manager Vic Brega were soon looking for ways to expand the store. The acquisition of two adjoining properties provided the chance to expand the store further down the street. The cost of the work was put at around £68,000. A new 21year lease was agreed, plans were drawn up and local builders, Bakers of Thurston completed the work by 1968.
Opened by the Mayor, Councillor J.R.M. Painter, it was their best shop yet. Purpose built, it had 8,000sq.ft. of retail space with offices that brought administration under one roof for the first time. The freehold was eventually purchased in 1976.
1953
Another Immediate Success
Town centre location
As with Haverhill, the success of the furniture exhibitions in the Saffron Walden Town Hall opened up another opportunity for Jerry and Leslie. In 1953, they were to open their next shop in King Street, Saffron Walden, an ideal town centre location. This was another immediate success, serving a further key area in the Anglia region. The store was to become an integral part of the local community and was to be included in the famous pensioner’s Christmas tea and sugar distribution for many years.
The late 1960’s saw further expansion for Glasswells in Saffron Walden, thanks to the hard work and vision of Vic Brega. Additional space had become urgently needed to show off more furniture, in keeping with the old belief that the more people could see, the more they were likely to buy.
An agreement was reached with the shop’s owners to make a large extension. An additional 60ft was added to the rear of the building, along with a new first floor. The work trebled the size of the retail area and a new 21year lease was negotiated.
Saffron Walden
King Street & George Street
Further expansion was to follow in 1988 when Glasswells refurbished a storage building to turn into a 1,000 sq.ft. carpet shop. Located to the rear of the King Street shop and fronting on to George Street, this effectively gave them a second town centre location, significantly increasing their presence. The main store was improved at the same time, replacing the King Street shop front, along with considerable internal alterations to improve furniture displays. A total of £50,000 was spent on improvements.
The Saffron Walden shop has now been trading continuously in the town for over 50 years.