It’s the end of an era in Stockwood. After 50 years, John’s off licence and convenience store in the row of shops on Hollway Road closes its doors for good today (Saturday, August 20).
The shop was opened in 1972 and run by three generations of the Backes family for half a century. John Backes died in January after a short illness aged 72 and his dying wish was that son Johnny and daughter Maria sold the business that had been the family livelihood for 50 years.
Over the past week, Maria and Johnny have been selling off the remaining stock. That’s when they haven’t been talking to the locals who have been shopping there for decades and popping in to wish them well.
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John’s was the longest-running shop in Stockwood. It served several generations of local people and John himself was something of a local legend.
When I visited the shop just before the final day of trading, the shelves were pretty much bare. There were a few bottles of wine left and a small selection of boxed toys.
Anybody who needed a last minute bottle of Martini Extra Dry, Bol’s apricot brandy or Xambuxo Aniseed Liqueur would have been OK. And if you wanted a Global Gizmos Brownie Maker or Loopy Lenses (‘the family game of silly scribbles with three sight altering loopy lenses’), your luck would have been in, too.
Other than that, there were a few daily newspapers and foil birthday balloons and boxes of ‘farm fresh’ Mendip eggs on the counter. The only noise was the whir and click of the Sir Lush slushie machine - blue raspberry, strawberry or orange flavoured and boasting ‘a whole lot of lush in every cup’.
John Backes took over the shop soon after his dad, also John, opened it in April 1972. John junior was from Broomhill originally and working as an engineer but when his dad died suddenly, he gave it up to run the family shop with wife Valerie.
And that’s where he stayed for 50 years, during which time the shop expanded from being an off licence to general convenience store selling a wider range of items including toys and groceries.
Valerie died 14 years ago but John carried on working seven days a week with help from children Maria and Johnny. Born and schooled in Stockwood, John’s children can remember growing up in the shop as much as the family home.
“We’d come here after school most days,” says son Johnny. “I still remember eating my tea under the counter.
“The shop opened until 9pm but Maria and I used to stay up just so we could see dad after he finished in the shop - he was a workaholic.”
John was from that generation of shopkeepers who worked all hours to put food on the family table. And his hard work was rewarded as John’s became very much a Stockwood institution, well supported by the locals, all of whom he knew on first name terms.
Maria says: “When it was just an off licence, dad opened at 9am but then he started to sell newspapers so he would be here from 5.40am. At first, he only stocked the Bristol Post and he would deliver them to local retirement blocks like Bluebell Gardens across the road.
“He was here longer than any other shop in this row and the parade has changed a lot over the years. We used to have the post office next door and there was a supermarket on the corner where McColls is now.
“We had Mountstevens bakery next door and there were two butchers and two greengrocers, one of which we owned for about five years.”
In recent years, the children of Maria and Johnny helped in the shop. Even Johnny’s five-year-old, who’s also called John, would spend time there with his dad and grandfather.
Maria says: “When dad died in January, part of us wanted to keep it going but it was getting harder and at the end of the day it was our dad’s shop. It’s not the same without him and he was a big part of Stockwood, everybody knew him.
“We have had hundreds of messages since dad died and since we announced we were closing. But then dad WAS Stockwood - they were lining the streets when it was his funeral, it was very moving and nice to see for our family.”
The Backes family has sold the premises. Luckily for the thirsty locals, it will be another off licence, although it won’t be the same as John’s.
“Everybody’s said it is the end of an era,” says Maria. “A lot of the shop’s success was simply because they came to see dad - he said what he thought and most people say he was a legend.
“He was very active for his age and he was still working here for as long as he could. It will be weird not being here because it has been a part of our lives since we were babies, and we’ve not known anything else.
“We’ll have a rest now and have time to grieve. We only had one day off for the funeral so now is the time to grieve and it has been tough for the family.
“The customers were very loyal and we had people who had been coming here for 50 years and coming in with their great grandchildren - we know everybody in the area.
“People say Stockwood has changed but it feels the same as it did when we were kids. There’s different people here now but we never had any trouble
“Years ago it was regarded as quite ‘posh’ and we had Bristol City players living here when they were in the top division - they all lived up here because they were new homes at the time.
“The other shopkeepers are sad we’re closing because we’ve been here longer than anybody else. But it was the right time to close and it’s what dad wanted.”
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