Newsagents and card shop run by same family in Lancashire for 60 years is changing hands
A Bispham newsagents and card shop which has been in the same family for 60 years is to change hands as the couple running it are retiring.
The News and Card Shop, on Ashfield Road, is currently run by David and Jayne Sprigg, who live above the shop.
However, the pair are set to retire and will be moving to South Shore.
When David and Jayne finally leave the premises, it will mean the end of the family’s long connection with the business, which has involved three generations of Spriggs.
The shop was opened in March 1964 by David's parents, John and Shirley Sprigg, who ran it for almost 30 years.
At one point, there were three generations involved, as John and Shirley were joined by David and Jayne and their young son Jack, who ran a paper round from the premises.
The family were even featured in the Blackpool Gazette back in the mid-1990s.
It was in 1993 that David and Jayne, now aged 58, took over the reins, occasionally helped by Jack, who is now aged 30.
Over the years there have been a few modifications to the shop but it has essentially remained the same family-run business, which locals have always called ‘Spriggs’.
But the pair have decided it is time to finally enjoy some free time after more than 30 years of 14-hour days.
David said: “We will have mixed feelings, mainly because we will miss working with our wonderful staff and the customers we have come to know so well.
“Many of those customers have become our friends - we’ve been seeing them for so long.
“It will be quite strange to leave, because I grew up in the flat above the shop and it has been my home for 60 years.
“Having said all that, we really are looking forward to our retirement - we haven’t had a holiday in 10 years and we certainly won’t miss getting up at 5am ever day to sort the newspapers and everything else out.
“We often work 14-hour days so it will be nice to finally get some time to do other things.”
The couple’s son Jack, who lives locally with wife Africa, is well known as a DJ at nightclub Notorious on Queen Street, and other work means he is not able to take over the shop.
The new owner is a businessman who is due to move in about a week’s time - and no doubt will soon become a familiar face himself.
The five members of staff working at the shop will all be staying on.
As for David and Jayne’s new home in South Shore - there is something familiar about that, too.
David said: “It’s my grandfather’s house, where I spent a lot of time when I was young, so some things will stay the same!”