'Heart-wrenching' closure of 112-year-old firm
Family business Geo Jones & Bros, in Bristol, which closes down this week, 'will leave a big hole'.
The 112-year legacy of George Jones and Brothers, a plumbing supply company in St Pauls, is coming to a "heart-wrenching" end this weekend with its closure.
Owner Mike Jones, whose children Ben and Emily also work at the Bristol store on Lower Ashley Road, cited a lack of nearby parking and an inability to compete with online pricing from larger businesses as the reasons for shutting down. The business, which stocks bathroom, shower, and plumbing accessories, first opened its doors in 1914.
"It's been heart-wrenching pulling the showroom apart. The history - all the years it's taken to build - literally just pulling it all apart. I'll miss it badly," Mike Jones expressed.
He recalled the business being "vibrant and busy" when he started working there at age 14 in 1978. "At one stage we had 300 active accounts in the South West and Bristol area [and] absolutely thousands of customers. We shipped stuff all over the place - even to the Caribbean."
Geo Jones and Brothers initially sold glass and fireplaces before transitioning to a builders' merchant and eventually specializing in plumbing materials. The Jones family moved into the property in the early 1900s, later expanding into the adjacent Lord Nelson pub to create a larger premises.
"We've always offered advice on how to plumb things in and prided ourselves on customer service," Mike Jones stated. "Even now, right up to closing, we're still getting people out of scrapes and troubles."
He acknowledged the challenges: "However, parking has been an issue and these days people want internet prices. The larger stuff, which is what you actually make a living out of, people buy online."
Emily Jones, Mike's daughter, echoed the sentiment of loss. "I think it's going to leave a big hole. It's really rewarding helping people that you can see are struggling. They're coming in expecting to spend maybe hundreds of pounds and we can sort them out with a £5 washer. We weren't after making loads of money from people when we could just help them out - it was always our ethos to help people fix things."
Once the remaining stock is cleared, the prominent corner property is expected to be redeveloped into flats.