It may seem strange for people looking to for someone fix their broken TVs to ask a bike mechanic, but Threadgold's isn't your usual cycle shop.
Having occupied the same premises on Hollyhedge Road, Wythenshawe, for 91-years, it would be fair to say the local community have come to rely on it, and not just for bikes. The shop has been run by husband and wife, Paul and Caroline Briggs since 2010, who took over from the original Threadgold family who had been in the cycle business since 1905.
To put that into perspective, the first commercially successful safety bike – the rear wheel chain-driven bike design we know today – had only been around 20-years; before that you were taking your life in your hands up a Penny Farthing. And it's Threadgold's long history in Manchester that's to blame for the non-cycling related requests they still get to this day.
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Caroline, 47, told the MEN: "When we got the shop people would come in to buy batteries, lightbulbs. It specialised in bikes but they also seemed to have a lot of other random DIY type things people wanted."
"We still get people asking us to fix random things. Best one was 'Do you fix TVs?' We said 'no we're a bike shop, we don't do TVs' but the customer was convinced we could do it so we said, 'bring it in', and sure enough, we fixed it."
Other strange requests they have received include customers coming in for brown shoe laces and asking if they can fix their lawnmower. The answer is better understood when you consider the shop's rich history.
The first Threadgold's shop opened on Great Jackson Street in Hulme in 1905. They later moved to Leaf Street and then to Mersey Bank in Chorlton at the start of World War I.
After the war, a brand new shop opened in Sharston in 1929. A section of the M56 motorway is there now.
But it was in 1932 that Threadgold's on Hollyhedge Road was established - where it still stands to this day. During World War II, Mrs Threadgold wanted to support the local community so, alongside the bikes, stocked the shop with crockery, DIY paraphernalia and household items.
Also to support its customers, Mr Threadgold would charge batteries for one penny in the workshop. At any one time there would be up to 300 batteries charging. These batteries would fuel their customers' radios so they could know what was happening in the war.
During the 1950s and '60s the trade in bikes took a dip as everyone bought cars or was using more public transport. It was during this time Threadgold's moved into selling mopeds and scooters.
The family opened several other cycle shops but by the 1970s there was only one Threadgold Cycles shop left, which is the one still on Hollyhedge Road. It's the willingness to adapt to the needs of the times that has been instrumental to shop's success, and the reason why customers sometimes still ask for the unusual.
Not that these requests phase the shop's latest owners. "Because it's been going that long people still come in and ask for batteries, people ask for stamps," Caroline said.
With Threadgold's being a fixture on the same street for over 90 years when they took over in 2010, the couple knew they were taking on more than just a shop. Caroline explained: "When we bought it, because of the history, we wanted to keep the name.
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"It's been in Wythenshawe all that time, so the last thing we were going to do was buy a business and then change the name. We wanted to keep it as it was, we wanted to keep that real family feel.
"What you had was generations of people from the area buying their bikes from that shop. We'd have 60-year old guys coming in who'd had their first bike bought from the shop.
"So we wanted to keep that family feel and the customer service element which was really important. We kept the essence of what Threadgold's is about - family run with bikes for all."
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The timing when Caroline and Paul took over was also fortuitous. Cycling as both a pastime and a means of commuting to work was on an upward trajectory, something which was given an even greater boost by Team GB's cycling success at the Olympic Games in London in 2012.
"And obviously when Covid hit, nobody could go anywhere so everybody was buying bikes," Caroline adds. Another unique service that Threadgold's offers is its specialisation in special needs trikes and bikes.
So with the change of ownership, has adopting a more standard cycle sales and repair business model affected Threadgold's importance to its customers? Caroline doesn't think so.
"Because it was always a busy shop," Caroline says. "we almost didn't really have time to change it that much.
"It's a real traditional bike shop, people come in, they say 'I love the smell' because you can smell the oil, you can smell the rubber tyres. It will take you back.
"We have loads of customers who work at the airport and we have loads of customers who work at the hospital - commuters, so their bike is their car. This is where we have a bit of a USP, Paul will make sure, if you work for the NHS, that one, you get a discount and two, the turnaround is as fast as possible.
"We do it for all customers but if somebody needs their bike to get to work we try and prioritise them.
"Then you then get mums coming in and we fix their pram tyres. I think with everything changing so much over the years it makes people feel safe and get that warm feeling. If it's got a wheel people think we can fix it."
Does Threadgold's awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
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