After 79 years it is truly the end of an era for one Colchester shop.

What will Colchester do without its Navy & Army store?

From school plimsolls, overalls and boots through to rucksacks, tents and camping stoves, there cannot be many people living in the town who have not bought something from the shop in Head Street, Colchester, over the years.

But after decades of keeping the customer satisfied the store, which has been a bastion of the traditional family business, is pulling down the shutters.

Shocked customers had a double-take as signs announcing the store was to close down went up in the windows. Sadly it has been poor health, not lack of trade, which has forced managing partner John Collins to call it a day, with the shop expected to close early in the New Year. For the past year Mr Collins has had to "curtail" the hours he has been able to spend with the business and the decision to close was taken out of his hands. "My doctor has told me I shouldn't be working, so the decision has been made for me," he said. Navy & Army was taken over by Mr Collins' grandfather Bob Prestney in 1939, just before the start of the Second World War, and though it has constantly adapted to the modern consumer world, little has changed over the years. Mr Collins, 57, said the secret to the shop's success across the decades was simple. "We sell quality goods that are cheap in price." He has worked in the shop since he was 18, running it since 1983.

End of an era - John Collins outside the Navy and Army store

By Lisa Cockrell

Reporter's e-mail: lisa_cockrell@thisisessex.co.uk

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