END OF AN ERA AS MOISERS CLOSES AFTER 120 YEARS
SHOP OWNERS: ‘PANDEMIC HAS TAUGHT US LIFE IS TOO PRECIOUS’
THE owners of one of Freeman Street’s longest serving shops have closed, marking the end of a 120year era.
Michael and Clare Moiser say they are sad at the closure of the store which has served generations of customers.
The remaining items of stock will be sold off in the coming days, but the store will not re-open when non-essential shops begin trading again on April 12.
For four generations, Moisers has served thousands of families in the Grimsby area with quality prams, cribs and baby items and sewing machines.
But the current owners say there is not a fifth generation willing to take on the family business and so it has closed.
The shop was opened in 1900 by Fred Moiser.
Clare said: “We are still selling on Facebook and there are a few items left but we are not re-opening next week.
“It is a big wrench for the family as it is the end of an era. But we know it is the right time. The pandemic has taught us life is too precious.”
She taught for 25 years at Strand Street School and Signhills School before serving at the shop six ix years ago to support Michael el in the family business.
“It was funny to have preggnant ladies coming to the e shop and remind them that I used to teach them,” she said.
She said she was looking g forward to walking holidays s once lockdown restrictions s are lifted and is happy gar- dening at home.
Michael said: “We have e mixed emotions. On one side d we are looking forward to retirement. Also we are partly looking back and hearing the kind things people are saying and that side of it is sad.
““It was a time of f pride d at our centenary when people recalled buying from us and how their parents had also bought from the shop and that their parents parents had also been customers. It is quite an emotional thing to hear and sad and kind at the same time. “But business-wise it is a different era now and the market has changed greatly.”
They have run the business alongside Michael’s brother John and his wife Jacquie.
They are the fourth generation , after Fred and Emma Moiser started in Freeman Street in 1900. It was taken over by his son Vic and his wife Marion, followed by Mike and John’s dad Frank, who owned it with his wife Shirley.