Pat has the last laugh as joke shop put up for sale
AJOKE shop in Stockport that has put a smile on the face of thousands is to be sold off after 45 years.
Pat Walsh launched the business on Little Underbank in 1971 using £200 she had saved towards a deposit for a house.
The grandmother-offour invested everything she had into the company and says it was seven years before she could even afford a holiday.
During her first year of business she used a shoe box to keep the takings in as she couldn’t afford a till.
Today, after several moves to premises up and down the street, The Stage Door is a fourstorey treasure trove full to the brim of all things theatre related.
Not only do they sell joke items, they do fancy dress, dance wear and accessories for all ages, as well as having their own in house wig maker and professional stage make up studio – basically a one-stop shop for all things theatrical.
The shelves are lined with everything from gorilla and shark masks, to fake Dracula teeth and garlic clove garlands.
The Stage Door also stocks ‘phoney money’, ‘exploding bangers’ and perhaps the oldest of all the tricks in the book – the whoopee cushion.
Despite an overwhelming passion for the business, Pat, who is originally from Manchester and turns 72 this year, says the time has come for her to let it go.
She said: “My mum used to sell jokes and bits and bobs in her bric-a-brac shop which used to be on Tib Street.
“There was a big demand for things like that, but she couldn’t keep up, so one day we were driving down Little Underbank and I decided, I’m going to open a shop here.
“I’m not sure what attracted me to it at first, but it’s been a good home to us.
“The business has expanded over the years and we are open seven days a week now, as well as the online shop.
“But it’s time to retire, I have two grandchildren in Denmark and two down south and the business restricts me from seeing them.
“I turn 72 this year and would like to spend more time with my family.”