People travel all from all over the UK to visit a small family run shop on Walton Vale.
JR Discounts is the longest running shop on the Vale, having been in business for almost 40 years. The shop, lovingly known as the “50p shop” because of its cheap prices, has sold everything from toys, to Jurgen Klopp cutouts, household items and garden accessories over the decades.
However now it specialises in artificial flowers and sees people travelling from Scotland, Northern Ireland and further afield to stock up. In its 39 years, the shop, run by the Isherwood family, has outlived many chains which have come and gone on the Vale, including Woolworths, Ethel Austins, Kwik Save and Superdrug.
JR Discounts was opened by Robert Isherwood, now 76, and his wife Jackie, when they were looking for a permanent base for their business which travelled to local markets. The family has had stalls in Earlestown, St Helens, for 100 years and also had set ups in Great Homer Street, Kirkby market and Chorley.
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Speaking to the ECHO, Robert’s son Marc Isherwood said: "My grandad had the solicitors on the corner, he had a shop there, so my dad knew it was a good area and used to do Kirkby market, so he thought it would be a good idea to buy a shop. We still do the markets too, Earlestown in St Helens, we do Chorley on a Tuesday, Great Homer Street on a Saturday."
Robert has taken a step back from running the shop, but still visits to speak to regulars who’ve become his friends over the years. Now his son and daughter look after the shop on a day to day basis, with their own families.
Marc Isherwood, his wife Natalie and sister Lesley all pick up shifts, alongside their one member of staff, Millie Fitzpatrick, who has been with them “since the beginning.” What the shop sells has changed over the years but has still kept its nickname. Marc said: “We’re known at the 50p shop locally because back when we first opened, you could get pretty much anything in here for 50p.
“It’s always officially been called JR Discounts, for Jackie and Rob, but even now people will still refer to it as the 50p shop. It’s just how it is in the area. It’s mad.”
The 45-year-old added: “We’ve been here 39 years but over the years we’ve changed, we now focus more on artificial flowers. In the past we’d just sell general stuff, tin foil, bin bags, we were really big for children's toys.
“Toys back then were really big, so if parents or grandparents came in they’d always come out with a toy. But now iPads are toys for the kids, so we don’t sell toys like we used to. But we mainly used to sell household gear.”
The shift to artificial flowers happened mainly over the coronavirus pandemic, when the shop saw a rise in demand. JR’s was forced to sell online which saw them become recognised from people outside of the area.
Marc said: “We took a picture of everything, put it on our Facebook page and then people ordered there and picked it up at the door. It just got bigger and bigger, so in the first lockdown we converted a bit more of the shop to flowers, and as you can see now, 90% of the shop is flowers.”
He added: “We have a lot of regular customers but also new regulars who are coming from all over the country now, thanks to people seeing us online. We’ve got people coming from Scotland, London, Birmingham, just to come to this shop.
“We’ve just got such a selection of artificial flowers. We sent deliveries out but they came down as well. We have a few customers that come down from Scotland, just for the day to see us. Got a few from Northern Ireland as well.”
Much has changed on the Vale over the years, but JR's is still in business, which is testament to the community and the hard work of the family. Speaking about the bonds her mum and dad-in law have created over the years, Natalie said: “Everybody knows them because they’ve always been here. We're the oldest shop on the vale.
"There used to be Woolies, Ethel Austins, Kwik Save and Super Drug, they've all came and gone but we've stayed. You can say the same for the Chicken Barbecue, that's another shop that's been running for decades."
Marc added: “I love working with family, you know everyone is going to turn up, Millie has been with us forever, we know even if she's on her deathbed she’ll be in. We all work good together.”
JR’s Discounts is open from 10am to 3pm Monday to Saturday on Walton Vale. The Facebook page can be found here.
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