Family-run pet shop shuts after more than 60 years

Terry and Orla Smith say they are looking forward to a restful retirement

"All good things must come to an end."

So says the owner of a family-run pet shop which is closing its doors after more than 60 years.

Terry Smith took over from his dad as owner of Pet Needs in Wirral in 1980.

He said he and his wife Orla, who have run the store together for the last 25 years, would miss the customers as they retired.

"We'll miss the daily contact with people, customers who have become friends and we will miss the banter," Mr Smith said.

"I've been here since I left school in 1980, the pet trade business is in the family," Mr Smith said.

"Originally my father ran the shop and his grandfather first opened a pet shop in Woodchurch Lane in Birkenhead before he moved to Prenton Road West opposite Tranmere's ground."

Pet Needs on Liscard Crescent was established in the 1960s

Mrs Smith said the shop on Liscard Crescent had been "incredibly busy" for the past few weeks as word had got around about the closure.

She said the shop's success had been down to her husband's caring nature with customers.

"He has this way about him that just allows him to connect with people," she said.

"To run a pet shop you have to have that gentleness and kindness and he definitely has that."

Jo Cunningham said she would miss the personal service the shop was known for

Customer of 50 years Jo Cunningham said she would miss the shop "unbelievably".

"There is nothing like Pet Needs anywhere else on the Wirral," she said.

"This is an amazing, unique shop. The personal service, the deliveries, the advice, you can just pop in whatever your need to ask them and they are here."

Another customer Chris Fog said: "They are so knowledgeable in what they do.

"There is a personal sense of nothing is too much trouble for them and I'd like to think that they've become friends as well."

She described the closure as "the end of an era" and wished the couple a "wonderful retirement".