A Burnham-On-Sea jewellery shop closed down at the weekend after two decades of business in the town centre.
Burnham-On-Sea Goldsmiths has been based in the High Street for 20 years, having previously been based in Bridgwater as Chris J Francis Gold & Silversmiths.
The final day of trading for the shop was on Saturday (April 27th) as owners Chris and Cheryl Francis made the “very difficult decision” to retire from the retail business.
They thanked their many loyal customers and added that they have been “bowled over” by the support shown during the last few weeks as they held a closing sale.
Explaining the decision, Chris said: “A lot has changed in the jewellery business since we started – it’s a digital world now where many sales are completed online and now is the right time to call it a day.”
“We will miss our many lovely customers. It is a very emotional time for us, having run the shop here in Burnham as a family business for so many years. We put life and soul into it, but the heyday of retail shops was in the 1990s and 2000s.”
“Times have changed and moved on – it’s a very different environment now with online trading.”
He added: “We have had many lovely conversations with customers over the past few weeks during our closing sale. One lady came down from Coventry to see us after reading on Burnham-On-Sea.com that we were closing and she proudly showed us her wedding ring that received from us 24 years ago.”
“It’s a bittersweet ending – wonderful opportunities lie ahead and it’s a new chapter for us, but we will miss our shop customers.”
He added that customers can still get in contact online via burnhamonseagoldsmiths.co.uk
The lease for the High Street is available and he says there has been interest in taking it on – further details are available here.
