Tinetty’s Toys Ltd in Gaol Lane, Sudbury has now started a closing down sale which is expected to run for two weeks before the shop closes for good with the loss of four jobs. The shop has been trading for more than 20 years and has been owned by directors Lynette Harvey and Kristina Read since 2007 when they acquired the business from TM Kingdom which had itself fallen into administration the previous year.
Tinetty’s remained part of Toymaster the national association of independent toy shops of which TM Kingdom was also a member.
However, Chris McKay and Chris Williams from East Anglian insolvency practice McTear Williams & Wood who were appointed as administrators on February 13 said the Sudbury store’s sales had been severly affected in recent times by a combination of the economic downturn and a number of local factors.
Mrs Harvey said these had included a loss of footfall for a three month perious last year when access to Gaol Lane from Market Hill was partly obscured by scaffolding and plastic sheeting erected as part of renovation work on the town hall. Last December she also voice disappointment that the town council’s Christmas lighting scheme had not extended into Gaol Lane – a decision the council said was due to a combination of funding constraints and technical issues.
Mrs Harvey said today: “A number of factors have led to the administration, including the lack of lighting in Gaol Lane. It is a sad loss for the town that another independent trader will have to close its doors. My co-director and I would like to thank our dedicated staff for their hard work and wish them well for the future.”
Joint administrator Chris McKay added: “We are sorry to see a long established business in the centre of a busy market town have to close but such closures are happening throughout the UK on an almost daily basis. The company will be holding a closing down sale over the next two weeks.”
Traditional independent toy shops around the country have suffered in recent years as a result of the recession, combined with intense competition from multiples and online retailers and the move towards electronic games. Last September the owners of Simpsons Toy Shop in Bury Street, Stowmarket announced that they were closing due to a lack of trade, ending a history for the business stretching back more than 100 years.