BRITAIN’S cheapest shop sells all its wares for just 20p – including £120-worth of jewellery.
Founder Steve Nelson launched The 20p Shop in Otley, West Yorkshire, around five years ago.
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And it has been a huge success, with customers flocking from far and wide to nab a bargain.
One lucky customer had their 20p jewellery valued at £120 by a pro.
Steve, 62, told the Sun: “Everything in the shop is 20p – it’s a level playing field.
“We were originally market traders, so know everyone loves a bargain.
“With all the Pound Shops opening up and some selling stuff for more than a quid – I thought why not a 20p shop?
“We trialled it initially on the market, but realised we needed a bigger space and four years ago opened the shop.
“It works, though it doesn’t make a fortune and people love the shop.
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“We have some customers coming in two or three times a day, to see what is fresh on the shelves.”
Steve refuses to increase the price of his items as he fears that would spoil the joy of the store, which is open from 9.30am to 5pm six days a week.
“With the price of stuff going up everywhere else and with this cost of living crisis, that makes it hard for us.
BARGAIN HUNTERS
“We do a massive range of greetings cards of all sorts, with birthday cards, special anniversary cards and even packs of wedding invitations on occasions.
“We are not afraid of buying in bulk and may buy 100,000 items at a time to keep the price down.
“It has to work at 20p and there has to be some profit to pay the bills, so that’s what we do.”
Steve’s son Stewart, 27, who is studying marketing at university in nearby Leeds, is involved in the family business and said: “Absolutely anything and everything can be found on our shelves.
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“We have items of furniture, clothing and food stuffs like Pot Noodle, crisps and other things like that, which may have gone just beyond their sell by date.
“We expect to get more of that kind of food in as things get harder and it helps customers with their food shopping budget.
“People realise that these best before dates can be exceeded.
“We do buy in bulk to be able to keep the price down.
“Most of the customers love the shop and if it was a bigger space we would have a café in it as people meet up inside.
“People have bought pieces like jewellery for 20p and taken it to a jewellers and they have valued it at £120, so there are bargains to be had, but my dad just says good on them.
“We’ve been asked by a lot of customers to open other shops with requests in off Facebook from people in Belfast, Glasgow and literally all over the UK.”
Across the road at the Cranberry Café, Tom Winder, 46, is a fan of the shop and said: “My son James is only 14 and he loves it in there. The shop is always busy. The teenagers like value for money.”
Meanwhile, John Carter, 80, a retired plumber, is a 20p Shop regular.
He said: “The stuff he gets in is incredible, one day it can be nothing you want the next there is a hidden gem among it all.
“My best deal was coming in here once when I needed a hall carpet and he had a roll and I got that for 20p. Somebody’s rubbish can be somebody else’s gold.”
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
