Dan the veggie man says thank you as he retires
A greengrocer has thanked the public for their heartfelt messages towards him following his three decades of service.
Dan O’leary, also known as Dan Dan the Veggie Man, has retired after delivering the Chichester district fruit and vegetables from a van since 1988.
Dan explained how it all started. He said: “I was working in the building trade and it all went downhill a bit in those days, 1988 after the ‘87 crash, with not much building work so I was looking for a different job. This job came up. Somebody started the round originally, just a small round.
He was selling it and I bought it in 1988 and then I started going round with him and he showed me all my customers and what he did so I just took it over from him.
"The secret of my trade is to be regular for your regulars.”
Dan has always been loyal to his customers and during lockdown it was no different. Dan decided to take orders from his existing customers and deliver boxes instead of letting people swamp the van and panic buy.
He said: “I decided to stop the round, because I refused to serve those people because they hadn’t been my customers for all those years and they would’ve bought everything and not had anything left for my regular customers at the end of the day.”
On his retirement, Dan said: “I decided to retire after the whole current situation with vegetables. I was going to retire in May anyway and that just pushed me along a bit.
"All my kids have left home, my mortgage is paid off and there is no need to work 15 hours a day anymore.
"Now that I’ve retired I’m going to do odd jobs for people, customers, who have now become my friends, some of them I’ve know for well over 30 years.”
Friend Alison Barclay said: “After 33 years, Danny O’leary’s greengrocer’s shop in a van will be greatly missed now he has decided to take a well earned retirement.
"Danny has always been cheerful and friendly, conjuring tricks for the children, groan worthy jokes for the adults, he added heart to his invaluable service keeping us all healthy by helping us eat our five a day. Or more!”
Dan added: "I just want to thank you for all your trade over the years. You’ve become more friends than customers over the years.”