Bosses at one of East Anglia’s best-loved businesses have spoken of their excitement about reopening – as they prepare to celebrate their 75th anniversary.
BURY: Reopening of Glasswells
Glasswells, Newmarket Road, Bury St Edmunds
Glasswells are re-opening their home furnishing store in Bury St Edmunds, Kevin Robertson sales director, Brian Bugg furniture manager and up holstery and dining buyer Andrew Sneddon. Picture by Mark Westley.
Glasswells was forced to close at the start of January after the third national lockdown was announced.
While some areas of the business have been allowed to continue under the national guidance and the website has been thriving, the Glasswells stores in Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich, Haverhill, Sudbury and Saffron Walden have remained shut for three months.
Now after the retail sector was given the go ahead to reopen on Monday 12th April, Glasswells is looking to make up for lost time while ensuring their special landmark year is one to celebrate.
Paul Glasswell, managing director of Glasswells, said: “We know how difficult the last 12 months has been across the whole retail sector.
“Glasswells is no different although we have had some areas of growth across the business.
“It is well reported that many people have looked to improve their own surroundings, perhaps at the expense of a summer holiday, and we expect that to continue in 2021.
“But first and foremost, we just cannot wait to have customers back and for them to once again enjoy the renowned Glasswells experience in safe and welcoming surroundings.”
Mr Glasswell said the three-month hiatus gave an opportunity to improve the Newmarket Road store in Bury St Edmunds including a £250,000 investment on enhancing the air conditioning.
He added: “We have wanted to become more energy efficient for a couple of years and the last three months gave us the opportunity to do that in Bury.
“Our Ipswich store has seen improvements to our lighting and the restaurant refurbished while all our stores will have new designs and subtle lay-out changes to make sure our loyal customers can shop safely.
“We are ready to welcome customers back. It is a strange way to start our 75th year in business but we are planning some celebratory events once guidance allows us to.
“I would like to thank all our loyal customers who have continued to support us and also sent us warm wishes.
“And also our staff who have shown commitment and resilience throughout the last year. We have all missed the interaction with customers, and each other, and we are counting the days until Monday 12th April.”
The store will reopen with a 75th Anniversary Sale while the popular Place to Eat restaurant in Bury will be serving food on the outside patio area as well as takeaways.
