Norwich skate shop Skatewise to close after nearly 30 years in the city

A skate shop which has been supplying the people of Norwich with their roller skates for nearly 30 years is calling it a day.

Skatewise on St Benedicts Street has been party of the city's landscape for 28 years but now the owners Kay and Harry Hornsby have decided to retire.

The shop, which sells a variety of goods including rollerskates, inline skates and scooters, will shut for the final time on Saturday April 22 and the husband and wife team are currently holding a closing down sale.

'It is something we have been thinking about for a long time and it just feels like the right time,' said Mrs Hornsby. 'I will miss it greatly especially seeing all the children come in and getting their skates but it start of something new and a new era.'

Skating is a popular past time in Norfolk with Funkys rollerskating rink being the place of choice for many skaters for a number of years as well as Retroskate at Great Yarmouth and a host of classes at sports halls across the county.

And Mrs Hornsby said despite the rise in online shopping they still see a lot of people coming through their doors.

'Online is getting bigger and bigger but we have found that people still want to shop in an actual shop and get service from someone with knowledge so they know that what they are getting is right what for they want.'

And she had this message for anyone thinking of opening a specialist shop on the high street in the future; 'Everybody is struggling a bit with things the way they are and I think if you are going to open a specialist shop now you have really got to know a lot about it and the products you are selling but it is very difficult.'