Highburton Village Stores to close after 150 years

Feb 13 2009 by Emma Davison, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Villagers’ upset as they lose Highburton Village Store after 150 years in business.

The shop is run by a small committee which also owns the two-storey building.

Two years ago the Society held talks with Wooldale Co-op to merge the two stores, but the deal fell through leaving the store facing an uncertain future.

The shop’s sad decline has been put down to a dwindling customer base.

The credit crunch has also hit it hard and its struggle to compete against other stores has taken its toll.

Mr Pankhurst said: “It’s a generation thing, years ago people used to do all their shopping at their local village shop but now they prefer to go to the supermarket where there’s more choice or shop online.

“The credit crunch hasn’t helped and people are shopping elsewhere and just picking up essentials like bread and milk from their local shop because supermarkets are more competitive – the proposed Tesco Express store for Kirkburton has also added to the fear of the store making losses.

“But the shop will be missed by many living in the village. I think the elderly especially will miss the social aspect the shop brings; that sense of being part of a community.”

For those in the village who still rely on the shop its closure will have a big impact, particularly on the elderly and those without transport as the bus service into nearby villages like Kirkburton are infrequent.