The owners of one of Chester’s oldest family-run stores have shut up shop after 40 years of trading.
Carol and Everett Smith first bought 55 Garden Lane in April 1976 after emigrating to Chester from Canada and over the years the family ran the store as G E Smith’s sweet shop, Spar Garden Lane stores and more recently, Smith’s.
The family who were well known in the Garden Lane area for selling newspapers, cards, lottery tickets and a selection of wines and groceries, closed the doors to their shop for the last time on Sunday (April 11) and welcomed its new owner Hakan Yilmaz who will transform the store into a Uni-Market offering lottery tickets, newspapers, wine and beer, and a large selection of groceries.
Mr Yilmaz, who currently owns Uni-Kebab and Pizza and Uni-Chicken on Garden Lane, will re-open the shop on April 26.
The Smith family now plan to have a well-deserved rest and take advantage of not having to get up at 5.30am every day by taking a break to visit family in Canada.
Their daughter Laura told The Chronicle: “A great deal of people will know my father as ‘Mr Smith from Canada’ and remember his generosity and warmth. I think my family touched many lives of people in Chester over the years.
“My parents bought the shop on April 1, 1976 after emigrating from Canada where my brother Jason and I were born, although my mum was born in Ellesmere Port.
“We used to have a second shop in Lower Bridge Street in the early 90s but this was sold some years ago, and we were the first shop in Chester to install CCTV, security cameras and a fridge for stocking cold drinks.
“Handing over the keys after 40 years was an emotional moment for all of us, as all of my childhood and most of my parents' married life was spent running the store,” added Laura.
