Whisked away
When Barry Gillespie took over a small manchester shop in Palmerston North’s Main St 55 years ago, the Main Trunk railway line still ran down the middle of the road.
‘‘There were probably three trains a day, and we had to shut the door when they went past.’’
Gillespie, now 82, has sold his iconic Terrace End shop, Gillespies Value House – well-known to generations of Palmerston North schoolchildren and their parents. Gillespies was the town’s school uniform centre, and uniforms were a staple that kept customers coming back year after year.
Many of the children he fitted out over the decades now return as customers with children of their own.
It wasn’t always the school uniform shop. Uniforms were added to the inventory a decade or so after Gillespie took over.
In 1961, he remembered walking into the store to sell something, and ended up buying it.
‘‘I was a commercial traveller for AM Satterthwaite. I came in here with a bag of manchester, and an old fella like me was sitting here behind this counter and told me he didn’t want to buy anything because he was selling up.’’
Gillespie had only recently moved to Palmerston North from Christchurch to marry his sweetheart, Elizabeth. The couple had met during a Manawatu harriers meet. With Elizabeth’s blessing, he bought the shop, and has been there ever since.
‘‘I never had any training as a retailer, but my mother ran a grocerydairy. I used to buy all the fruit and veges for it at the market when I was 15 or 16.’’
Eventually, Gillespie bought the whole building.
For the past 36 years his shop lieutenant has been Rae Harris. Harris remembered when Gillespies was extended through the wall into the neighbouring shoe store to cater for the uniform trade.
‘‘In those days we had five schools, but then Boys’ High decided they wanted to do their own,’’ Gillespie said.
At one time the shop also sold scout uniforms.
Harris recalled that in the 1980s, knitting wool was big, and stacked on shelving to the ceiling.
‘‘It was a terrific wool shop in those days,’’ she said.
Even after all this time, Harris still calls her boss ‘‘Mr Gillespie’’.
So, how did they put up with each other under the same shop roof for all those years?
‘‘I’m one of those people who when I decide on something, I stick with it,’’ she said.
‘‘Well, I’m really looking forward to my retirement,’’ Gillespie chuckled.
Harris would be staying on until March next year to help new owners Sally and Quentin Poole, of Terrace End’s Academy Apparel, come up to speed with the business.
‘‘We make school uniforms and Gillespies sells school uniforms. It was a good fit,’’ Sally Poole said.
She and her husband may make changes, but want to get a feel for the business first, and come to terms with their first school uniform season. For the time being, there will still be a Gillespies Value House. REGION: People stumbling along Moonshine Valley Rd or Whisky Way in Palmerston North may have trouble recognising where they are – the street signs often disappear. NATIONAL: Baby penguins abandoned by their parents after the earthquakes have found a safe haven and all the salmon they can eat.