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Carpet shop celebrates 100 years in business

BBC Mr Edwards has short brown hair and is wearing a black gilet over a dark blue shirt. He is standing in the doorway of the shop. The shop's exterior is green with a painted logo that reads "A Evans and Son, established 1924". There is a sticker on the shop window which says "Celebrating 100 years"BBC
Simon Edwards took the shop on three years ago

The owners of a Shropshire carpet shop are raising a glass to celebrate its 100 years in business.

Nestled on Shrewsbury's Wyle Cop, surrounded by modern bars, bakeries and shops is A. Evans and Son.

Originally owned by a man called Alfred Evans, it was passed down through the family, before being bought three years ago by its current owner, Simon Edwards.

"All of the Evans family have looked after their customers so well over the years, and we’re obviously trying to keep that going," he told the BBC.

As well as crediting the family legacy to its success, Mr Edwards said the location had played a part too.

Wyle Cop is thought to be the longest row of independent businesses in the UK, according to Shrewsbury's Business Improvement District.

Even some of the staff are consistent faces on the Cop - Mr Edwards still employs Jim, a carpet fitter who worked for the previous owner for 40 years.

"Because Jim’s been working for the shop for so long, he’s requested by customers when we come in. They insist that we send Jim along," he said.

Old, yellowing newspapers that include articles about the carpet shop being open for 50 years. One of the headlines says "Reputation has spread far and near!". There are black and white photographs of people inside the carpet shop.
The shop has kept newspaper articles that celebrated its other important anniversaries

"It’s very important to keep businesses like this going, not just because of the 100 years, but because it’s a personal service," Mr Edwards added.

"We’ve tried to keep everything as consistent as we can," he said.

"Obviously prices have slightly gone up, but that’s out of our hands."

Thanks to its legacy, generations of families are customers at the shop.

"Just the other week we had a young lady in, and she informed me that her grandparents had carpets from here, her mother had carpets from here and now she’s back here getting carpets."

"Her grandchildren will be coming here as well, hopefully.

The inside of the carpet shop. There are vertical stacks of carpet samples on a display on the left hand side. It also has samples hanging underneath them. To the right, there are booklets of carpet samples that you can flip through.
Mr Edwards hopes the shop will be open for a further 100 years

Although the official 100th anniversary was on 1 May, Mr Edwards decided early on that celebrations would take place towards the end of the year.

Every Saturday in December, the shop will be open from 13:00 to 20:00 GMT, welcoming customers to have a drink and some snacks, and find out more about the business.

"It’s about consistency really - looking after customers, keeping in contact with them, listening to customers, keeping them informed and just being there for them," he said.

"It’s a local shop, owned by local people, so it’s just really important. I just hope we’re here in another 100 years."

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