Grumpy staff in Leeds shops

[francof]

Perhaps its a sad reflection on the cut throat times we live in where fawning shop staff will cut their leg off at the knee if it means selling you a pair of underpants. but am I alone in being slightly nostalgic for the old school grumpy retailer. The kind of shopkeeper who always made you feel as if you were really putting them out by asking for a packet of mints, and would mutter angrily under their breath if it meant getting out the step ladder to reach that elephants foot bun on the third shelf. My favourite was the man who owned the Army surplus shop opposite the Corn Exchange, professional grump. I once asked him if he had any grey army greatcoats in stock. After letting out an exasperated sigh, his eyes swivelling towards the heavens, he screamed "Why would I. They don't grow on bloody trees you know". Bringing us bang up to date the girl who works behind the counter at Jumbo records has carried on this proud tradition . I swear I've never seen her crack a smile in the ten years I've been going in, and she always appears visibly sickened by my cd choices. Any memories of other intimidating retailers folks?

[tilly]

Welcome to the site francof..

[bgams]

Many many years ago while working in Wortley myself and a work colleague used a small pub just above the Brick (its name escapes me). The landlord , an ex-rugby league player I think, was not known for his joviality so one night about 10pm with a view to lightning the atmosphere I said to him as he was pulling our pints, '' They've all that money and they live like pigs.'' He said, ''Who'' and of course I said, ''Pinky and Perky'', To which he replied, without breaking his stroke in pulling a pint or cracking a smile,'' Dont know'em. They don't come in here.''

On reflection I probably deserved it.

[j.c.d.]

The fruit and veg. retailers on the old top row in Kirkgate Market would take some beating (probably some one has a photo) they had the apples and oranges displayed in four or five foot sloping lines under bright lights. quite magnificent displays but God help you if you even pointed out what you wanted never mind touched the fruit. the man who served you behind the piles of fruit, who incidentally could possibly had have no legs 'cos only his top half was visible, would hand you down a brown paper bag with your fruit in it. even after paying for it it was dangerous to have a look inside unless you were 100yards away. your purchase never ever matched their displayed fruit. for those of a certain age will remember that these stalls, all identical, stretched from the entrance opposite the Scotsman Pub to the other entrance opp. the Madhouse Pub.
Farther down the Market in those days the greengrocers were even more friendly. if one touched the fruit, even if buying, it was possible to have your knuckles rapped with the steel pan from the weighing scales and if you ventured to ask "Are the Tomatoes firm ?" the reply would probably have been "Not as Blee***g hard as you".

[uncle mick]

Leeds Market 1 Large.png (372.83 KiB) Viewed 2133 times

The fruit and veg. retailers on the old top row in Kirkgate Market would take some beating (probably some one has a photo) they had the apples and oranges displayed in four or five foot sloping lines under bright lights. quite magnificent displays but God help you if you even pointed out what you wanted never mind touched the fruit. the man who served you behind the piles of fruit, who incidentally could possibly had have no legs 'cos only his top half was visible, would hand you down a brown paper bag with your fruit in it. even after paying for it it was dangerous to have a look inside unless you were 100yards away. your purchase never ever matched their displayed fruit. for those of a certain age will remember that these stalls, all identical, stretched from the entrance opposite the Scotsman Pub to the other entrance opp. the Madhouse Pub.
Farther down the Market in those days the greengrocers were even more friendly. if one touched the fruit, even if buying, it was possible to have your knuckles rapped with the steel pan from the weighing scales and if you ventured to ask "Are the Tomatoes firm ?" the reply would probably have been "Not as Blee***g hard as you".

With due respect j.c.d. don't tar all us former greengrocers by the same brush. I had a fruit & veg stall in Kirkgate Market for 20 years & always sold my produce from the front of the stall, what you saw is what you bought.

No I would not let customers help themselves, you don't want some silly **** banging the peaches / nectarines about as you soon end up in debt but the customer was stood next to me as I served them

As regards the customer a classic I remember " Can I have 5 pound of potatoes please, don't make them big ones cause they are too heavy to carry"

A couple of photos of the stall, does anyone remember it ?? So after 20 years in the market & circa 15 years in running pubs don't forget there are two sides to every story

[BLAKEY]

Call me an old misery by all means, but I do object to adjacent till operators in supermarkets shouting full scale social conversations at their colleagues while processing my goods - but without even looking at me, and if you're lucky you might just get a grunted "tah" at the end while they put your change in your hand, or somewhere near, while still socialising loudly with a nearby workmate Having had that rant though I must stress that such behaviour is very much in a really small minority, and most cashiers are pleasant and polite, and engage with the customer they are serving

[j.c.d.]

Leeds Market 1 Large.png

The fruit and veg. retailers on the old top row in Kirkgate Market would take some beating (probably some one has a photo) they had the apples and oranges displayed in four or five foot sloping lines under bright lights. quite magnificent displays but God help you if you even pointed out what you wanted never mind touched the fruit. the man who served you behind the piles of fruit, who incidentally could possibly had have no legs 'cos only his top half was visible, would hand you down a brown paper bag with your fruit in it. even after paying for it it was dangerous to have a look inside unless you were 100yards away. your purchase never ever matched their displayed fruit. for those of a certain age will remember that these stalls, all identical, stretched from the entrance opposite the Scotsman Pub to the other entrance opp. the Madhouse Pub.
Farther down the Market in those days the greengrocers were even more friendly. if one touched the fruit, even if buying, it was possible to have your knuckles rapped with the steel pan from the weighing scales and if you ventured to ask "Are the Tomatoes firm ?" the reply would probably have been "Not as Blee***g hard as you".

With due respect j.c.d. don't tar all us former greengrocers by the same brush. I had a fruit & veg stall in Kirkgate Market for 20 years & always sold my produce from the front of the stall, what you saw is what you bought.

No I would not let customers help themselves, you don't want some silly **** banging the peaches / nectarines about as you soon end up in debt but the customer was stood next to me as I served them


As regards the customer a classic I remember " Can I have 5 pound of potatoes please, don't make them big ones cause they are too heavy to carry"




Hiya Mick (not a Grundy are you ?). I was really meaning the Top Row. I take your point about serving with the customer at the side of you. I had a green grocery business in Morley Market from 1967 to the mid 70s and ran mine on the same principle.

Customer "Tell me what time are you reducing the Bananas and I will come back" Me "About 5pm" . (making sure there was not a banana left unsold by 4.30.pm.)


Guess you would have known all the characters that were in the Wholesale market and also in Kirkgate market

[j.c.d.]

Many many years ago while working in Wortley myself and a work colleague used a small pub just above the Brick (its name escapes me). The landlord , an ex-rugby league player I think, was not known for his joviality so one night about 10pm with a view to lightning the atmosphere I said to him as he was pulling our pints, '' They've all that money and they live like pigs.'' He said, ''Who'' and of course I said, ''Pinky and Perky'', To which he replied, without breaking his stroke in pulling a pint or cracking a smile,'' Dont know'em. They don't come in here.''

On reflection I probably deserved it.

Reminds me of an extremely grumpy landlord of a Tetleys house in Holbeck, his nickname was Frozen face but he kept a good pint otherwise I think he would have been completely on his own. he had a brother who was just the opposite, a nicer lad you could not hope to meet. Bill (frozenface) pulled me a pint one night in complete silence, as usual. I knew his brother had gone into Theatre that day for an extremely serious operation and as I knew he did not get on with his brother even so I thought I would ask how he had gone on. "How's your Kid tonight Bill ?" "He's forty one" was the dead pan answer.

[buffaloskinner]

The best corner shop I know, no way though was Albert Arkwright grumpy

[p]

Does anybody remember Harwin Electrical on Row J in the market? Michael Harwin was a nice man, however he did keep people in check with a bit of a toungue lashing if they did something wrong, I worked for Harwins for a few years part time, mostly Saturdays, in the late 80s/early 90s. Michael always gave me a few more pounds on top of my wage out of his pocket, £11 plus a few quid extra for a 9am til 6pm shift would be seen as slave labour nowadays, back then workers saw it as well earned money.

I've also worked for a grumpy bloke who owned several stalls in the market plus a couple of shops on Kirkgate, can't remember his name but I think he jointly owned them with a nicer but still harsh person. The stalls/shops included Woody's DIY, Murphy's nick nacks at the top of the market, a gift shop somewhere near the middle toilet block what was the old fish market, a gift shop a couple of doors down from Hills next to the old LA amuesments on Kirkgate, and a random bits and pieces shop opposite the rail bridge on the Parish Church side of Kirkgate. The latter shop only used to get busy when people we're boarding Saturday shopper coaches, it was mainly used to store stock for all the other shops. I got the sack after 6 months for doing too good a job sweeping a very dusty floor, a few weeks after I was sacked I learned he soon realised he needed to dip his hands into his profits and buy a much needed vacume lol.