Myhills Pet & Garden will open the doors to its much-anticipated new Attleborough store on Saturday June 12.
The scissors are ready to cut the ribbon as Norfolk’s oldest and largest chain of pet and garden stores, Myhills, welcomes customers to the grand opening of its new store from 9am on Saturday June 12.
Founded by Fred Myhill almost one hundred years ago, the company was originally established to supply local farmers with grain and cattle feed. Today the local business has stores in Dereham, Diss, Swaffham, Watton, Wymondham and Attleborough.
Myhills remains a traditional family company serving loyal customers a range of 20,000 different retail products across its stores including plants and flowers, seeds, fertilisers, fishing equipment, pet food and accessories, as well as items from its hardware, DIY and houseware departments. The company also offers a local delivery service each week, which proved a hit during lockdown.
“Our strength lies in serving Norfolk’s market towns and surrounding villages,” says managing director Peter Hodges.
Myhills Pet and Garden originally established a shop in Attleborough in 1977, when the company purchased the old Tyrell, Byford and Pallet shop in Queen’s Square, but the company had been looking for larger premises in Attleborough for a number of years, and were finally able to purchase the site of the old postal sorting office two years ago, allowing them to build premises 10 times the size of its previous store and located next to Sainsbury’s on Attleborough’s High Street.
“We then set about gaining planning permission and were lucky to have some assistance from the then chair of Breckland Council, Lynda Turner,” explains Mr Hodges. “We started clearing the site at the end of July 2020.”
Director Roy Hagan managed the project from start to finish, which represents a bold investment for the town. “We are delighted to say that more than 85pc of the expenditure on the new development has been with Norfolk-based companies,” he says. “We are particularly pleased with the Larch cladding, which really makes the building look both modern and in keeping with its surroundings.”
This is the first time Myhills has developed a purpose-built store from scratch. The store is wheelchair accessible with a passenger lift to the first-floor homeware and hardware departments, which features a key cutting service.
“It has been a huge challenge, but we feel we have succeeded in producing a shop that will be an asset to the area with a wide range of products available all under one roof,” Mr Hagan says.
Another interesting feature comes in the form of a pet weighing service. “We will provide a record for customers to keep track of their pet’s weight, which will be a huge help in correct feeding and health treatments.”
Mr Hagan believes that attention to detail and customer service are what sets Myhills apart from national rivals. “Myhills prides itself on being a family-run business large enough to compete on prices with national chains, but still small enough to listen to its customers,” he says. “If there is something that is not stocked, we will do our best to provide it. Our knowledgeable and experienced staff are always ready to help.”
The store will employ eight new staff members in addition to four existing staff transferring from the old store.
“We are very much looking forward to welcoming everybody to the new store and we would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for their loyalty through these difficult times,” Mr Hagan says.
Mr Hodges added: “The high street is the heart of the community. We hope by investing in Attleborough we will draw more people into the town and help other local businesses to prosper once again.”
For more information, please visit myhillspetandgarden.co.uk and follow on Facebook.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here