John took over a community's trusty greengrocers shop in Wolverhampton almost 30 years ago and spent much of his life at local markets sourcing the freshest produce to make available for families across the city. But now, he fears low footfall, continuing domination from supermarket chains and the constant cost of living rising, could spell his last year doing what he loves.
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00:00It's a lovely small community and I hope it will continue. I'm afraid if it
00:06doesn't continue, if it continues in the same rate of deterioration we'll have to
00:12close. My name is John Hockt from Colwyn Heath Nursery. I am 81 and I feel about
00:2295 at the moment. I took this up on approximately 27 years ago. It will take
00:29a few months. It was very poor run-down business when I started but over the
00:35last few years I've built it up and done it up. Since I've taken the shop over
00:40trade of course has deteriorated but that's probably due to the supermarkets.
00:45But I offer a personal service. My fruit and veg are very fresh. I go to the
00:52wholesale market most mornings between four and five o'clock to obtain fresh
00:57produce. The problem with the supermarket food is it's not quite so
01:02fresh. I know it's a lot cheaper but sometimes it's better to pay a little
01:07bit more for fresh produce. Now a lot of my customers I've known for a long time
01:1325, 26, 27 years and we have a very friendly personal relationship and I
01:21appreciate their customer very much.
01:25Plums left? None of your big plums?
01:27I think there might be one down there.
01:39The most favourite things I have about working in this job selling this
01:45produce is the customers. I have a fantastic friendliness with the
01:52customers. They appreciate me. I appreciate that and we really get on
01:57very very well and I hope they will continue to come in because I will
02:01appreciate it and I really enjoy their company. I enjoy chatting to them. I've
02:08got a number of customers who come in especially just for the chat, especially
02:12if they're getting older and they enjoy the chats and talking about life in
02:16general. One or two of them like to reminisce about the old days
02:22and I really appreciate that and enjoy it. I am hopeful we can keep on, keep
02:27open and keep selling our fresh produce. We have quite a few elderly customers.
02:32One or two of them rely on me for deliveries because they have trouble
02:37getting out. In fact I have trouble myself sometimes. I was getting up in the
02:41morning at four o'clock. It's very difficult to keep small shops open. I'm
02:49sure as people realise many many small shops have closed recently and I think
02:55it will continue unless people support the local shops. The local shops are here
03:01for their benefit, not only mine to make a living, but for their benefit as well
03:07because we're very handy, producing very fresh and very good and we certainly
03:12appreciate their custom and we like to give a nice service and I hope in the
03:17future we can carry on but I must admit it just seems as if it's going to be a
03:22struggle and I would be really grateful if people could come and support us and
03:27give us a little bit more customers just to keep going and I think my staff would
03:33appreciate it as well. It's a lovely small community and I hope it will
03:38continue. I'm afraid if it continues in the same rate of
03:45deterioration we'll have to close. I certainly hope it won't because I
03:49certainly enjoy my job. I enjoy virtually everything I do in this shop and
03:54speaking to the customers and chatting to the customers. I'd like to take this
03:58opportunity to thank my customers for supporting me over the last 12-18
04:06months because it's been very difficult to keep this small shop open.