Closing Down

After 29 years of selling designer shoes,

we've decided to call it a day.

If a customer comes in through the door,

they either walk towards my wife or they walk towards me.

We came here in 1984 and we were the second shop in the Avenue.

Annabel were here first and we opened next.

They were the fashion shop and we were the accessories.

And it worked extremely well. What about something like that?

It's a silver kid on a silver beautifully shaped heel.

Sandal style. Peep toe.

Bloomfield Avenue was known as the Bond Street of Belfast

with all its high-class shops carrying the best of stuff.

We didn't know what to call the shop when we were opening it.

We were having dinner that night with friends of ours,

who live in London, and Shirley came up with a couple of names

and then she said, I know, "Arabesque."

That would just see the whole thing perfectly.

Also, if you've been to Tunisia, the bird cages in Tunisia,

which are circular.

-They're not really circular, John.

-Little bits of wire and so forth.

-Filigree work.

-That called arabesque.

That's called arabesque work, very fine detail and craftsmanship.

-So we got one of these and we put it in the window.

-Yes.

With shoes coming out of it. Little doors on the side.

It was very attractive looking.

But the number of people who came in that wanted to buy the cage...

-Not the shoes!

-So, I had to take it out.

We would have a record of every shoe we sold in the shop over 28 years.

Everybody has a card with what they've bought on it and when they bought it.

-Some customers have maybe six cards, on both sides.

-That's right, yeah.

When she was 18, our daughter, Candy, started modelling for us.

When we opened up and then for a few years after that.

Well, the summery ones were always taken in the winter,

so it was freezing or snowing outside and I was sitting there.

It must taken a good two hours?

-Maybe more.

-I had to sit and we'd change poses.

Maybe we changed what I was wearing, or not, as the case may be.

They were my ideas really, weren't they?

I think they were. You brought the shoes and you arranged the shoes.

This one was - the background was - a very old satin quilt cover

of my elderly aunt. That I had. It was very good.

-It worked very well for the background for that.

-It did, it did.

Probably fell to pieces afterwards.

We're used to people coming in to buy a pair of shoes.

They come in for a specific thing.

Nowadays, they're just in to look and handle - throw down.

A different thing altogether.

They're not used to being attended to in the shop.

People just don't have manners any more.

They come in with their mobile phones.

They'll answer calls when you're attending to them.

They'll wander about with their phone.

It's only manners for us not to speak while they're on the phone.

So, everything stops, while they have a silly conversation.

People have no manners any more.

It's a very, very sad world we're living in.

We've the odd customer who comes in now,

who appreciates what they're being offered.

It's quite low. Here's the mirror.

That's wonderful.

-Enjoy them!

-Bye.

-Bye-bye.

But that's only one out of half a dozen.

You get people that we know over the years, who come in

not to buy shoes necessarily but to come in and have a yarn with you.

This is her social life as well. Her friends come here.

They come for coffee.

It has always been a social shop.

That's the way the Avenue used to be.

For mum, she's never been at home.

We're used to talking all day - quite used to that.

-That's what we're going to miss.

-Thank you very much, Heather.

As always. We had three days off at Easter.

It was good to be back on Wednesday morning.

Granted, the weather was very poor over Easter,

so it was mostly being confined to the house.

It wasn't me.

It gave us pleasure to be able to get a pair of shoes to fit

somebody who has a problem trying to get shoes.

We had a family come in and they needed silver shoes.

When I went to put them on,

I then discovered she had a false leg.

So, it's difficult.

It's difficult enough if you've a false foot for the window

to get a shoe on to it, let alone a false leg.

I was afraid to push, in case I would hurt the woman.

So then I had a bright idea that,

I turned to her husband and said,

"Perhaps, Sir, you're more accustomed

"to doing this than I am, perhaps you'd like to try it."

"Oh," he says. "Yes, give it to me."

He got it and he hit it as hard as he could hit it

to get it to go on and he got it on all right.

They weren't so worried about that. "We'll have those."

-So, they went out as happy as Larry.

-A shoe like that with a low heel.

Which was giving her glamour where she couldn't really show a leg.

But those were the days when you could smoke in the shop.

A good many of our customers were smokers.

They came in to relax, have a chat, make their purchase.

It was their outing. But, when the no smoking came,

they were quicker in and out, weren't they?

-Yes. That's true.

-Yes.

A woman comes in on a flat shoe, or a low-heeled shoes,

puts on a high heel and she stands up straight.

Her shoulders go back and her tummy goes in. She looks 20 years younger.

That's right. That is right.

Then there are people who put shoes on,

and they stand with their handbag like that.

I go round, and I say, "No look!"

This photograph will never be repeated,

so, get your handbag round there,

your tummy goes in, your head goes up

and the hat looks better.

And it does. I say, "Go home and practise in the mirror."

If you deliberately do that, the difference it makes.

You see, a photographer will push them all together,

so they're all standing with their handbags like this.

We see some funny photographs when they come in.

So many of the ladies prefer a man to fit their shoes

and admire them on them and say what they think.

Of course, John will always come up with the right answer.

What I think's the right answer, you mean.

John's opinion is valued in the shop.

-Can you sit down now?

-Oh, yes. I can sit down.

Take the weight off for a wee bit.

I was a guy who could do everything.

Now I can do nothing because of problems with my knee.

So, when I put weight on it, I know about it. So...

..that's why I sit down every chance I get.

The lease has run out

and we don't feel like signing up again for a further lease.

So, it's a good time, with the recession and so forth,

it was a good time just to close.

And it's nearly 29 years since we opened. Six days a week.

It becomes very difficult.

-We had quite a change of circumstances.

-A long time.

It will take us quite a while to get used to doing nothing. I hope.

I don't like to think about that.

-Heather's not looking forward to it.

-No.

My mother will be very upset, I think.

She does not want to be at home. She loves the shop.

When I was small, my mum always worked. It was just...

that's just her life.

And I think it will be very difficult for her to be at home.

It's the end of an era. It really is.

I think it's sad. I think it will be very sad.

We've decided to mark the occasion by having a closing-down party.

With everyone who used to work in the Avenue with us.

-Rosie, my dear!

-How are you?

It would be lovely to have everybody back together again

for a good old matter.

And see how they all look and how they're feeling

and enjoying their retirement.

It's like old times again really.

We were all in and out in a nice way - of the different shops -

and we knew the families and what was happening.

We used to send people over to you for the magic knickers,

so they'd look better in their outfits.

There's been nothing like that for years now.

I don't know if I'll ever adapt. I really don't.

When you've been coming out to business

every day for so many years...

You'll maybe take up line dancing or something, Heather?

It will never be the same again.

You have your own little clique. Once that breaks up,

-it's just not the same - not the same.

-Bye-bye.

She's always been in business.

I think she'll feel quite cut off when she's at home.

It won't be the same for her. More than daddy, definitely.

There are plenty of beautiful shoes but they're all ornaments now.

We don't know another shop of this type.

It breaks my heart because they're all our babies.

Somebody said, "Take it home and put it in the garage."

What's the point of that?

We just don't know.

We're just playing it day by day.

Week by week.

Till one of us drops.

-Bye.

-Ta ra.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd