A STOURBRIDGE businessman has called it a day after almost 50 years of trading in the town.

Dave Jackson shut his Gasway Ltd shop in Lower High Street for the final time on Wednesday February 28.

Stourbridge News: Gasway which opened in Lower High Street in 1976 and closed on February 28 2024Gasway which opened in Lower High Street in 1976 and closed on February 28 2024 (Image: Newsquest)

Retirement, however, is long overdue for the 81-year-old who opened the store selling fires, cookers and central heating systems in 1976 as the UK was about to experience one of the hottest summers on record.

He recalled: “We opened in April or May in 1976 and we didn’t sell a thing until September. It was the hottest summer ever and I thought - what have I done?”

But he added: “I’d saved enough money to kit the shop out with enough appliances – fires, cookers etc. I’d allowed myself 12 months without selling anything. Come September when the weather got a bit cooler it suddenly took off.”

The business started out at number 28 Lower High Street and was situated there for about 12 years, he said, before he bought and moved into number 20 - taking over what had been a photographer’s shop.

Stourbridge News: The shop front in Lower High Street, Stourbridge, when it was a photography shopThe shop front in Lower High Street, Stourbridge, when it was a photography shop (Image: Handout)

Mr Jackson, who also used to fit the appliances himself, said: “Our best years were the 1980s and 90s but in the last few years trade has just gone down and down and down.”

Stourbridge News: The business made newspaper headlines in the late 80s/early 90s when a car parked in Lower High Street was accidentally driven into the shop front.The business made newspaper headlines in the late 80s/early 90s when a car parked in Lower High Street was accidentally driven into the shop front. (Image: Handout)

He said the rise in online shopping and the Covid pandemic have changed the habits of shoppers dramatically and taken trade away from the high street.

Mr Jackson, who has been assisted by Jon Tipper in the shop for the last 41 years, said it was a “bit sad” closing up for the last time.

Stourbridge News: Dave Jackson of Gasway, right, with Jon Tipper, who worked for the business for 41 years.Dave Jackson of Gasway, right, with Jon Tipper, who worked for the business for 41 years. (Image: Handout)

But he said: “Everything comes to an end. You can’t go on forever, 48 years is a long time.”

He added: “There’s not many of the old shops left in Stourbridge now.”

Mr Tipper added: “It’s the end of an era.”