The owner of an historic St Albans hardware shop says his customers are "absolutely gutted" that the business is finally having to shut down.
Dearman Gomms has had its roots in the city for over 130 years, but Dave Bhalla told diyweek.net that it would be closing its doors for the last time at the end of November.

The business was established in 1880 as Gomms and, remarkably, remained in the same family until it was bought in 1995 by Mr Bhalla. Then 15 years ago a store called John Dearman - which had been trading in St Albans since 1950 - came up for sale and Mr Bhalla also bought that and amalgamated the two businesses, moving into the larger premises of John Dearman.

However, Mr Bhalla, co-owner of Dearman Gomms with his brother Sanjiv, says that now: "Day-to-day trading is not enough to keep us going. Our shop is a little bit off the beaten track and we don't get many new customers. Secondly, St Albans has got every big-name company, such as B&Q, Travis Perkins, Jewson...everybody wants to come here. And now we're getting Screwfix and Toolstation coming in.

"We used to get a lot of council work, and now the council has decided to give tenders to companies outside the borough, and companies outside the borough don't want to use us, they've got their own outlets. Also, builders have gone bust."

He said he also agreed with Homebase, which says there is a lack of DIY skills among young people and which is partly behind its decision to close 80 more stores.

"The younger generation don't do DIY," he said. "Half of them don't know what a screwdriver is."

Dearman Gomms, which is the last independent hardware shop in St Albans, is now running a closing-down sale. "Nobody would buy the business, it's not generating enough income," Mr Bhalla said. And as to the premises: "I think it's going to become flats."

He told diyweek.net that he was "tremendously sad, and our customers are absolutely gutted because we had a very, very loyal following".

The shop has one member of staff. "He's been with me for eight years now, so we've made sure we've looked after him, and he's got a job," said Mr Bhalla.

And as for Mr Bhalla himself: "I'm going to retire, semi-retire, whatever. I'm going to rest first. Working six days a week takes its toll."