KieltySaur

What’s this? A shop, that says it sells wool and sewing materials and does just that? Huzzah! A sign in the window reads ‘Audrey’s’. In case there was any doubt about the store’s wares, a quick glance through the window will suffice as bags of balls of wool of every colour make and size spill forth from the far left corner of the room in a wave that laps up against the windows at the front. Barely visible in a chasm between the mountain of wool and the counter is the proprietor- Audrey.

The wool shop is something from a time since passed, where purchases are calculated by hand on paper and only Audrey can navigate the fluffy terrain to find anything. When asked how many years she’d been there, there was a pause before she said, grinning, “Put over twenty five.”
Audrey punching in an order.

Yes, ‘Audrey’s’ was the first shop she owned . It had been an established business, a wool shop and haberdashery (“Spell it? H-a-b and then I’m lost,”) that she bought into as an investment.
“I just needed something to do,” she says, explaining that once she married and had children there was no way she could work like she’d been used to. For eleven years Audrey was employed by Rushton’s making children’s garments on the third floor of a building on Castle Gate. Unable to return to the factory, the shop was somewhere she could bring Hilary, who was six months old and the youngest.

Yes, people are still interested in wool. Though many firms have closed big names like Wendys are still going and patterns are released continually for contemporary knitted accessories. The most recent success was skinny scarves, drawing in fashionistas of all ages who realised a £2 ball of wool was cheaper than a £10 scarf.

Yes, she orders all her own stock. By internet? Audrey’s face suddenly contorts in feigned horror. “I haven’t got internet,” she confesses, “I make a phone call.” Doing business the same way for something “over twenty five” years, ‘Audrey’s’ has passed the test of time.
*Audrey’s wool shop is listed in the Nottingham Phone Book.