{"id":1127325,"date":"2026-08-03T06:02:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T06:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1127325\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T06:02:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T06:02:33","slug":"shoppers-gather-to-bid-farewell-to-barsleys-department-store-in-paddock-wood-after-135-years-of-trading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1127325\/","title":{"rendered":"Shoppers gather to bid farewell to Barsleys Department Store in Paddock Wood after 135 years of trading"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Shoppers have bid farewell to a family-run department store after 135 years of trading.<\/p>\n

There were tears shed among customers who gathered at Barsleys Department Store in Commercial Road, Paddock Wood, as it closed its doors yesterday (August 1).<\/p>\n

\"ShoppersShoppers gathered to bid farewell to\u00a0Barsleys Department Store. Pictue: Lee Probert<\/p>\n

It comes after directors of the business announced \u201cwith a heavy heart\u201d in May that it would be shutting, with all 36 members of staff being made redundant.<\/a><\/p>\n

Dad and daughter, Richard and Alice Barsley, said it had been a \u201cdifficult\u201d decision prompted by \u201cgrowing economic and social pressures\u201d.<\/p>\n

As part of the final chapter for the store, it held a public closing down sale launching on May 15.<\/p>\n

Yesterday (August 1) marked its final full day of trading.<\/p>\n

To mark the occasion, customers gathered outside the shop at 5pm to say goodbye.<\/p>\n

\"AliceAlice Barsley and her father, Richard Barsley. Picture: Martin Apps<\/p>\n

Speaking to the crowd, Richard said: \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely phenomenal that you have all come and I am overwhelmed by it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, it means so much that we meant a lot to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barsleys will remain open on Fridays and Saturdays this month between 10am and 2pm for any school uniform customers as well as sell any final items, fixtures and fittings.<\/p>\n

Richard, who was trained in clothing and outfitting at Sharp\u2019s of Maidstone, joined the department store in 1974.<\/p>\n

Alice joined the company in 2013 after gaining a first in economics at University College London, before working in Debenhams\u2019 head office in London for three years.<\/p>\n

In September 2024, the shop had a sale to celebrate a \u00a31.5m refurbishment, which drew large crowds and excitement from the community.<\/a><\/p>\n

The roots of the family business go back to 1891 when Charles Barsley took over the running of a tailoring establishment in Brenchley.<\/p>\n

He travelled around the locality by bicycle or by horse and cart, measuring his clients in their homes, while other customers called at the shop, where there was a tailoring workshop employing three to four men.<\/p>\n

By 1900, trade increased enough to enable him to open a shop in Paddock Wood.<\/p>\n

And in 1903, he purchased Alma Cottages in Commercial Road, which was then in the Parish of Brenchley, and enlarged the building to accommodate a shop, which is on the site of the current store.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shoppers have bid farewell to a family-run department store after 135 years of trading. There were tears shed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1127326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6],"tags":[51,2082,609,495,9137,56205,104690,16,15,43920],"class_list":["post-1127325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-consumer","tag-human-interest","tag-kent","tag-maidstone","tag-malling","tag-tunbridge-wells","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-weald"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117030063107651199","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1127325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1127325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1127325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1127326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1127325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1127325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1127325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}