Gem of a store to close after 35 years of trading

KARMY’S jewellery shop is preparing to close its doors, after more than three decades in Southport town centre.

Owner Jane

Bakerman has begun planning the closure of P Karmy and Sons, which could come as soon as early next year.

Jane, 77, has been running the shop, inside Wayfarers Arcade, for 35 years, but now plans to retire and spend more time with husband Rodney.

She followed in the family footsteps to run a jewellery shop, as her father and grandfather had done before her, while son Peter will ensure the family legacy lives on through another jeweller’s, on Lord Street.

With the shop’s lease due to expire next year, Jane has decided the time is right to step back from work. A closing down sale is under way and she says she expects all stock to be gone by Easter 2020 and possibly closer to New Year.

She said: “I’ve been here 35 years but this shop, under its previous owner, was one of the original tenants when the arcade opened.”

Altogether, the Bakerman family have owned half a dozen jewellery shops, including ones in Wigan and Sheffield. She says she will be sad to say goodbye to her customers but feels now is the right time to retire.

“I’m absolutely going to miss it,” she said. “We get little old ladies coming in here and they say they got their first row of pearls from the shop. It’s amazing how many people come in with their families and say they’ve been buying things for years.

“We do appreciate our regulars, we have a lot who have been coming here for many years.”