Hardware shop owners sell up and retire (From York Press)

Hardware shop owners sell up and retire

9:30am Thursday 17th May 2012 in News By Julie Hayes, julie.hayes@thepress.co.uk

PEXTONS Hardware, of Bishopthorpe Road, is up for sale as its owners retire.

Johnny and Frankie Hayes who have run the business for 13 years have doubled the size of the shop since 1999 and increased the range of stock.

The husband and wife team also opened a new shop, Frankie and Johnny’s Cookshop, down the road in November which sells cookware, gifts and cards which they will keep.

Mr Hayes, who was a teacher for 20 years in York before buying Pextons, will be 60 next year, and said: “We have loved running this shop for the last 13 years but I always aimed to retire at 60, so now is the time to hand it over to someone new.

“I am going to become a Saturday lad for Frankie at our new Cookshop. I’ll also continue in my role as chairman of Bishopthorpe Road Traders Association. I might even do some painting in my spare time,” he said.

Mrs Hayes added: “Our proudest moment was winning the DIY Week Gold Award for Britain’s Best Hardware Retailer at The Manchester Hilton in November 2009. We were over the moon that our shop had won such a prestigious award.”

The business is for sale as a going concern, including its name, under which it has traded since the 1930s.

Mr Hayes said: “If somebody told me they were going to change the name, I’d be completely against that. I don’t think anybody in their right mind would.”

He said the shop was opened in 1933 by Mr Pexton and then run by his daughter. When it was sold outside the family unit, Johnny’s predecessor kept the name, and so has he.

“I’m also known as Mr Pexton, it’s a bit like being Dr Who, the next owner takes the name,” he said.

The business is for sale through John R. Hornsby Chartered Surveyors in Acomb at about £89,750, plus stock. Mr Hayes said: “I am delighted to be able to offer such a well known and successful business and I expect there to be considerable interest.”