A Durham business has shut up shop after nearly 60 years of trading, attributing the closure to “post-Covid buying habits and reduced footfall”.

Keith Fenwick Electricals, located in Langley Moor, has closed its shop on the village’s High Street. The business intends to continue as a trading company and will deal with callouts for white goods and electrical installations, as well as PAT testing and EICR reports.

Advertising itself as an “Aladdin’s cave of electricals”, the shop has been owned by Keith and Valerie Fenwick since 2008. Former owner Wilf Scully opened the shop – then called Wilf Scully Domestic Appliances - in 1966.

Read more: Blind repairman retires after more than 70 years of fixing

Wilf Scully, who had been registered as blind in 1983 and repaired electric appliances by touch and sound alone, retired in 2008 at age 91.

Valerie Fenwick told The Northern Echo: “Unfortunately the closure of the shop has been brought about purely due to post-Covid buying habits and reduced footfall.

“During lockdown, the shop came under the non-essential heading and therefore closed. Obviously, people still needed parts and so turned to online purchases.

“This has resulted in companies such as us closing all over the county. Prices are being greatly reduced online as these businesses sell their old stock, to the point that our suppliers can’t even match some of the prices on the internet when we buy in bulk.

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“It is a sad sign of the times as a lot of our customers are of the generation who believe in supporting local businesses, unfortunately, we have to change with the times in order to succeed.”

For many North East businesses, the rise of online shopping has been the final straw to break the camel’s back, making bouncing back from Covid impossible.

Steve’s Café, in Darlington, also recently brought down the shutters for the final time after serving the community for 38 years – leaving many customers devastated.

The Fenwicks wanted to reassure loyal patrons that they are still dealing with callouts for installation and testing and are happy to post out parts or deliver vacuum consumables.

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Valerie added: “We’ve had the most amazing customers in our 15 years in Langley Moor.

“From the gentleman who, on a particularly stressful day, gave me a shiny 5p and told me that in his day it would have been a lucky sixpence, to the amazing lady who saved the day by coming back with paracetamol when a migraine hit.

“We shall miss all our lovely customers, but we’ve kept the same telephone number to try to minimise inconvenience. And I’m hoping the local pianist who called me regularly during lockdown to play the piano to me still does so!”