An independent shopkeeper says his personal relationship with families across Leighton and beyond has secured his 40-year-old shop’s success.
An independent shopkeeper says his personal relationship with families across Leighton and beyond has secured his 40-year-old shop’s success.
Owner of Dorvic’s Cycles, 81-year-old Vic Davis, says he is proud to be the only remaining independent bike shop in the town.
After taking over the shop in 1970, Vic and his wife Dora have worked together to see generations grow up at their shop in Bridge Street.
Vic said: “I have watched people who came into the shop as youngsters become grandparents and bring in their family to be fitted for a bike.
“That’s nice because people know me by name so it is like being with old friends.”
Talking about Chainey’s departure from the town centre, Vic said: “They couldn’t survive there and had been struggling for years with the advent of the internet.
“That is something that has come in and one has to accept it. People that buy on the internet end up having problems and come to me anyway, but they go there first because it looks cheaper, regardless of what happens.”
Dorvic’s was named by combining the owners ‘ names Dora and Vic, who claim they now run the oldest established cycle shop in Bedfordshire.
He said: “I give a different class of service and that is the sort of business people of Leighton Buzzzard like, so that is why they keep coming back year after year.”