An independent hardware store in Broomhill, Sheffield, is facing extinction after its landlord received planning permission to alter the shop layout against the will of its current staff workers, who suspect they're being ousted in favour of a Sainsbury's.
Williamson's landlord told staff that he did not want to renew the shop's lease when it expires in November 2013. As reported in DIY Week on July 13, a planning application was submitted to Sheffield City Council earlier this summer to change the upstairs office unit to retail space and shop frontage to a more supermarket-like double entrance. Despite many councillors voicing reluctance, the submission gained approval because there was no legitimate planning reason why it shouldn't.

DIY Week spoke to shop manager Martin Greaves, who has worked at Williamson for 21 years. "No one has actually said it's going to be made into a supermarket," he said. "But there have been a lot of rumours that Sainsbury's are moving in.

"After the planning approval from the council the situation now looks like we're moving. There will be negotiations with the landlord, but I don't know what will happen."

The current thirteen staff members at Williamson span two and three generations from three families, with the age range from early twenties to seventies. Mr Greaves himself works with his son and said the move would mean a "lifestyle change" for many of the workers.

When asked how important independent shops were to the Broomhill community, he replied: "Very important. We've had so much support from our customers - every single one of them has heard about the application and has mentioned it when they've been in."

He added that while the town already housed a Eurospar supermarket a few doors down and there were plans in place for a Tesco nearby, the only other DIY independent was in the next town over. "There's no B&Q nearby, the nearest multiple is a Wilkinsons in Hillsborough."

While Sainsbury's has not confirmed it is moving into the store, it reportedly said the area "is a location where [it] may be interested in opening a small shop should the right site become available."
Sheffield locals have rallied around Williamson, with over 145 objections posted on the council's planning application website page. Heather Young said: "Williamsons is one of the few genuine independent stores left in the area. It's an Aladdin's Cave of useful things and it would be hugely missed if it went. I would hope [the council] wouldn't even consider letting a Sainsbury's open on this parade of shops. There are already many empty shops at Broomhill, it's an area that needs help to encourage businesses to open here. The arrival of a Sainsbury's would only kill a few more, to the detriment of the area."

Tamsin Cassels, meanwhile, said she considered Williamson "an integral part in the future success of Broomhill as a centre that continues to attract customers from the local community and further afield." She added that the introduction of a supermarket would be "madness" considering the location of the Spar.

Julie Barton took the attack against the proposal one step further, calling Sainsburys a "supermarket bullying giant" and adding "[Williamson] has served the community for years and should carry on doing so."

Although there was one letter of support for the application from Lynne Briggs, this was mainly concerned with Sainsbury's providing "some competition to Spar's exorbitant pricing". Pointing out there was "a cracking little hardware shop" in Crosspool, she added: "the property housing Wllliamsons (sic) was originally a supermarket".

With store owner Andrew Williamson currently on holiday, Mr Greaves said the negotiations between him and the landlord are likely to begin upon his return and that no timescale is known about when the work may begin.

In the meanwhile, it is business as usual for the hardware store, whose busiest season is about to commence.

"We've been doing about as well as any other shop on the high street at the moment," said Mr Greaves. "We're just trying to keep afloat really, times are hard and everyone is struggling. But the students are coming back soon and that always means big trade for us when they come to pick up their odds and ends."