Two of everything in Sandy

Following my post earlier this year pointing out that there are two Lloyds chemists a few doors down from eachother, two Forbuoys newsagents across the market square from eachother, and two Budgens, stevepsandy was good enough to write a couple of lengthy comments to explain these points. As the comments feed for this website is still in progress for Aurlog, I reproduce his comments below. Many thanks!:

The issue of two chemists newsagents and Budgens is quite simple:

1. The big ‘Fourboys’ in the Market Square, used to be a private newsagents for many years, then got taken over by the TM Group t/a Fourboys. The little Forbouys down on the parade opposite used to belong to Jack Berry. When he retired and sold up, Fourboys took it over. These two units now trade under the Martin McColl banner, which is the lates incarnation of the TM Group (HO Brentwood Essex).

2. In a not disimilar fashion the two chemsts almost side by side were also competing. The big one, next to the chippy, was for many years a launderette and when first opened as a chemists, was called ‘Cooks’. The small chemist, next to the alleyway leading to the Health Centre, used to be owned by a small independent, who had several pharmacies in the region (can,t recall their name off-hand but it was someone’s name, first & surname – female). The small chemist was eventually sold off to what is now Lloyds and the’Cooks’ chemist was already (it’s believed) another trading name of the Lloyds group. It’s not clear why both chemists now trade under the Lloyds banner but the two offer similar but differing services. The little Lloyds tends to be the more traditional type of chemist, selling prescription and non-presciption drugs OTC items & preparations, health related testing kits, general bathroom and washroom products and so on. The big Lloyds, whilst selling much of what the little one does, because of its’ larger floor and shelf space, sell a wide range of haircare accessories, beauty aids, giftware and since recent times, invalid buggies! So, in short, the two offer quite a complementary service.

3. Budgens (now franchised in both sites), part of Musgrove Budgen Londis Group (MBL), trades both in the town centre and on the new Fallowfield development in the north of the town. The Budgens franchise in Fallowfield has come after a long battle with the developers, planners and other interested parties, to get some retail provision on the new estate (at one time, there were even plans to convert the original proposed retail units into yet more housing!

So now you know – or at least my take on the issue.

Incidentally, the Post Office (where it is now used to be an Eastern Electricity retail shop) has expanded into next door, where there used to be a dry cleaners (even before the dry cleaners, it was a sports shop). Anyway, since the ‘expansion’ we now have a Spar convenience store, incorporating the Post Office, the dry cleaners (no dry cleaning on the premises – its all sent away), alimited range of Spar branded and mainstream branded grocery items and even (as if we didn’t have enough facilities already)self service take-away coffee unit. Oh and by the way, the stationers, up on the High Street, ‘The Knack’, is rumoured to be closing down soon (lack of trade?) It used to be a Video hire Shop before it was a stationers – not sure what it was before that.

The ‘proper’ dry cleaners next door, ‘Clean Stream’ used to be an estate agents (no doubt competing with Brown’s opposite). Not sure what it was immediately before that.

There is more but I’ll save that for another time.

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Since my last post I have received information that in fact, what is now the Chippy was the old launderette, so I am not sure what the big chemist might have been before Cooks/Lloyds. Someone out there will surely know.