Gerry's of Wimbledon closing down

qtaran111 · Feb 6, 2016

I popped down to Gerry's today to get a few bits and some maggs and found out they're closing down.

Gerry's isn't my normal tackle shop as I usually use Roman Tackle or Oakwood Angling, but I always head there when south of the river (usually on the way to the Wandle).

End of an era. They've been there 55 years and now being replaced by a furniture shop

tikka · Feb 6, 2016

That'll be a sad day having been there so long, a few tackle shops down here have also closed recently, I guess that's what the internet does to these places.

robertroach · Feb 6, 2016

It is sad but on the other hand, maybe they have not moved with the times. As a big tackle shop and long established they would have been in prime position to also make a big push on the internet some years ago.
Someone there should have realised what they had to do to survive. Maybe they got stuck in an outdated business model. It happens a lot to all sorts of independent retailers.

soft plastic · Feb 6, 2016

robertroach said:
It is sad but on the other hand, maybe they have not moved with the times. As a big tackle shop and long established they would have been in prime position to also make a big push on the internet some years ago.
Someone there should have realised what they had to do to survive. Maybe they got stuck in an outdated business model. It happens a lot to all sorts of independent retailers.

They have been selling on the Internet for years. Used them many times. It could be that the shop is closing but the Internet side of the business is staying?

bracket · Feb 6, 2016

I remember when Gerry took the business over from Terry Dorman. At that time the premises were round the corner on Denman Street. Gerry moved it round on to Radford Boulevard into what had been a bank. I always used it both when Terry ran it and then Gerry. I would not go anywhere else, along with most other of the Nottingham Lads. I was in there last year and had a good craic with my old mate Wayne. Sad to hear it's going, it was more than a tackle shop, it was a meeting place. I recall that, no matter what time of the day I went in, Don Slaymaker was always sat on the counter drinking coffee, how he ever managed to get any bricks laid God only knows. Yes it's sad, the end of an era. Pete.

binka · Feb 6, 2016

bracket said:
I remember when Gerry took the business over from Terry Dorman. At that time the premises were round the corner on Denman Street. Gerry moved it round on to Radford Boulevard into what had been a bank. I always used it both when Terry ran it and then Gerry. I would not go anywhere else, along with most other of the Nottingham Lads. I was in there last year and had a good craic with my old mate Wayne. Sad to hear it's going, it was more than a tackle shop, it was a meeting place. I recall that, no matter what time of the day I went in, Don Slaymaker was always sat on the counter drinking coffee, how he ever managed to get any bricks laid God only knows. Yes it's sad, the end of an era. Pete.

Are you thinking of Gerrys of Nottingham instead of Wimbledon Pete?

Or I could be getting muddled up, I used the shop on Radford Boulevard quite a bit in the past and excellent it was/most likely still is.

Is there a link between the two or are the names just coincidence?

bracket · Feb 6, 2016

binka said:
Are you thinking of Gerrys of Nottingham instead of Wimbledon Pete?

Or I could be getting muddled up, I used the shop on Radford Boulevard quite a bit in the past and excellent it was/most likely still is.

Is there a link between the two or are the names just coincidence?

binka. Thank you for pointing that out. I have to admit to a senior moment here, I mistook it to be Gerrys of Nottingham, I forgot first rule "When everthing else fails read the instructions". I feel a lot better now you put me right. Pete.

103841 · Feb 6, 2016

Back in the 70s I used to do most my shopping in Dells of Battersea, always thought his maggots were superior but would occasionally visit Gerrys, it was like being a kid in a sweet shop, such a huge array of gear.

Such a shame it's closing down, a double fronted shop in a prime retail area of affluent Wimbledon must cost a fortune in rates.

lambert1 · Feb 7, 2016

I remember Gerry's from reading Angling Times in the 70s as a kid, together with Bennetts of Sheffield. They seemed vast compared to the small local tackle shops I used back then. However things have moved on now and there is an almost limitless stock on the internet. As a side note, I purchased an old collection of fishing tackle at a car boot sale some years ago and inside were some hooks made by a tackle shop close to White Hart Lane that were called Hotspur hooks, which were to silkworm gut. Now you cannot get more local than that! The point I am trying to make is that perhaps this is not such a new trend and that tackle shops have been on the decline for some time now and are much less localised due to several factors. Just a thought.

binka · Feb 7, 2016

lambert1 said:
I remember Gerry's from reading Angling Times in the 70s as a kid, together with Bennetts of Sheffield. They seemed vast compared to the small local tackle shops I used back then. However things have moved on now and there is an almost limitless stock on the internet. As a side note, I purchased an old collection of fishing tackle at a car boot sale some years ago and inside were some hooks made by a tackle shop close to White Hart Lane that were called Hotspur hooks, which were to silkworm gut. Now you cannot get more local than that! The point I am trying to make is that perhaps this is not such a new trend and that tackle shops have been on the decline for some time now and are much less localised due to several factors. Just a thought.

I remember taking the bus from Mansfield to Sheffield on my 16th birthday to spend my money in Bennetts of Sheffield, a fishing mate came with me and we watched almost mesmerised as a video was playing of when Dave Thomas won the World Championship which was around the same time.

I went to school with a lad called Dean Bennett who was a relation, not sure whatever became of him.

peter crabtree · Feb 7, 2016

In many cases tackle shops close because they are old family businesses.
More often than not once the proprietor retires there's no one to fill their boots.
This is the same for many other small shops and businesses.
Thank goodness there are still a few million UK anglers with multiple interests to keep the trade alive....

Look on the bright side folks.....

qtaran111 · Feb 7, 2016

Yep that's basically the story I heard in the shop, nothing to do with the Internet, but the fact that the 3rd "Gerry" is retiring. It's a shame as it's such a huge space (especially for London). Horrible to think of all those rods, reels, floats and gear replaced by furniture. I doubt the furniture shop will last 55 years.

chub_on_the_block · Feb 7, 2016

Gerry's was one of my local tackle shops growing up in the 70s and early 80s. I rarely used it though as it stocked middle of the road big name or big selling brands but rarely the special stuff that an aspiring club angler, like I was, was looking for. I preferred KC Angling in Sutton, but that took two different buses to get to. That has closed down recently too i understand- unbelievable considering how popular it was and rammed with club and match anglers back then.

My local was Thames Tackle near New Malden. I could walk there during school lunch breaks. Keeping the pint of maggots safe in my school bag during afternoon lessons. It was great until it moved premises nearer Kingston.

Happy days

Peter Jacobs · Feb 8, 2016

I used to use Gerry's at Wimbledon back in the late 70's and early 80's as I my office was literally just down the road from the shop.

By the early 80's Gerry (the original) himself was heavily into Sea fishing so the shop had a lot of sea tackle, but still was the best all round tackle shop for miles around.

It is a sad sign of the times when a ship with such a long history closes . . . .

mickrigney · Feb 8, 2016

Hi Binka,
Would that have been the No 3 bus from Mansfield to Sheffield? We used to catch that from Sheffield to Clowne to fish "Bumpmill" in the late 1950s and early 60s. Great memories of the crucian carp in there. I wonder what its like now? A commie I wouldn't be surprised!

binka · Feb 8, 2016

I think we used the National Express "X" service Mick which were more direct but limited stop although I think I know where you mean in Clowne if it's Harlesthorpe Dam?

I pike fished it about twenty years ago and it was a nice mixed fishery but I think it's more if a carp water nowadays, very nice looking place with the little reed fringed pond just off of it?

https://www.facebook.com/harlesthorpe.dam/

mickrigney · Feb 8, 2016

That's the one.

flightliner · Feb 8, 2016

Spent several nights on that island tenching Steve/Mick. Only place I ever caught a golden tench.Best crucian water for miles around in the late fifties/sixties.

Chevin · Feb 15, 2016

That is sad news. I well remember working at the tackle shows Gerry used to run each year in the local swimming pool building which was converted to a winter assembly room. There was one day I had an amusing experience there when I went out for lunch. When I was going back to the show, I turned into a street and saw two gangs of skinheads beating the brown stuff out of each other. I decided to watch from a very safe distance rather than try to walk past them. As I watched I saw a head pop round from the corner at the other end of the street. I kept watching and saw that it was a copper just waiting for the yobbos to quieter each other down a bit.

What with Gerry's and Don's of Edmonton going, London is losing some ot it's best tackle shops. I believe Jack Frosts closed down many years ago. Jack and his Missus called in here a few years ago and I am sure they had left it before then.

It's good to see that Ken Lathem's tackle shop is still going. The stock he carried was always most impressive.

Gerry's of Wimbledon closing down

qtaran111

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