A century in Ilfracombe High Street - Chas Pedlar's department store

Whether it’s a suit for that posh wedding you’ve been invited to, or a set of quality saucepans to last the happy couple a lifetime, Ilfracombe’s family-run department store, Chas N. Pedlar, will supply everything you will need to attend the happy occasion, even down to the bow tie and cuff links.

It’s all sold with the same personal service that Ilfracombers have taken for granted for a century. Over that century, Pedlar’s has become an institution in the town since opening on January 1st, 1922.

In contrast to giants Debenhams and John Lewis, both blaming on-line shopping for the slump in footfall at their town centre stores, Pedlar’s has maintained a loyal customer base. Like all retail stores, it has weathered difficult post-Brexit and Covid trading conditions, the worst for forty years.

Pedlar’s has established itself at the very heart of the High Street; it is heaven to the houseproud, offering a staggering variety of gadgets and tools for both home and garden. From toasters and omelette makers, to creosote for preserving garden fences, the selection of homeware goods on offer, both inside the store and on its website is impressive, and if the item you want isn’t in stock, Pedlar’s will order it for you.

At its doorway we find trays of bedding plants, seed potatoes, planters and all the gardening paraphernalia required by both serious Monty Don disciples and weekend amateurs alike. Who isn’t happy to fill a growbag for a fine crop of juicy tomatoes? Local allotment holders, too, depend on the store’s farmyard manure to ensure their Pentland Javelins get off to a good start. And don’t forget your watering cans, cultivating tools and hoses.

Did someone say, ‘Fork handles? Handles for forks?’ Pedlar’s has them, too – just ask. Home chefs will salivate at window displays crammed with kitchen equipment both for the budding Jamie Oliver and the reluctant cook whose foray into haute cuisine is limited to a toasted sandwich. Air fryers, pressure cookers and saucepans, and even the cutlery and crockery with which to eat the inspired creation, all are on display at Ilfracombe’s glorious emporium.

Whether at home or on holiday, Pedlar’s caters for your needs. Going on a cruise? You’ll need a smart suit for dining at the captain’s table, and a snazzy striped jacket, perhaps, to parade along the sunshine deck and impress the ladies, perhaps a straw hat, too. Remember to add an electric shaver to the list. The rear of Pedlar’s store boasts a traditional outfitting section. together with gloves, underwear and socks. Mr. Nick Pedlar believes that quality and style never go out of fashion, and gentlemen in Ilfracombe don’t have to travel to Exeter to get kitted out in stylish menswear. Are they being served? Yes, and with old-fashioned attention lost at the big clothing outlets.

Charles N. Pedlar commenced trading on January 1st, 1922. He had arrived in Ilfracombe in 1897 and whilst a chinaware apprentice, lived above the former Handyman’s Supplier at the corner of Church Street and Wilder Road. Charles was employed selling china in the premises later to bear his own name, adjacent to Pugsley’s, a furniture and general goods store.

Having acquired his store in 1921, Chas Pedlar continued to sell mainly chinaware up until neighbouring Pugsley’s closure, in 1933, when he combined the range of both stores, adding furniture, hardware and menswear to his own. He remained involved until his death in 1963, aged 83.

Throughout his life, Charles insisted that quality and service were the enduring principals that kept customers returning. His son, Glanville, was born in 1915 above the shop, taking over in 1946 upon his father’s retirement. The proprietorship eventually passed to Nick Pedlar, now one of Ilfracombe’s best-known traders. Nick had taken a role in managing the business in 1964 having worked for three years as a tailor at Dingle’s department store in Plymouth, before continuing his training at London’s Simpson’s of Piccadilly, still a world-leader in bespoke men’s attire.

In 1962, the Home Hardware wholesale dealership was formed by a five-strong group of retailers, including Peter Slee, of Braunton and Bideford’s Eric Blanchard. Later to be joined by Nick Pedlar in 1964, they co-founded the company that rapidly expanded throughout the west country. Home Hardware has become the UK’S largest independent hardware buying group focusing on a local, friendly, and specialist store ambience.

The ethos works, and shoppers find it preferable to the impersonal checkout experience encountered at huge DIY sheds. I watched in Pedlar’s the purchaser of a bottle of drain cleaner have explained to her the best and safest way to use it.

Central to Pedlar‘s trading principles is the necessity to chime with the times and meet the everyday needs of generations of customers. Over decades, including the years blighted by World War II, Ilfracombers have relied upon the store for purchases as small as a can of oil to silence a squeaking door, or a smart business suit for the job interview.

Now more than ever is it vital to preserve local stores by shopping locally, and the relationship pays dividends. Some years ago, I was given at Christmas a trilby hat from Pedlar’s. Its sale came with the offer of a steam clean and re-blocking when it became necessary. Hats were, in post-war years, an essential feature of men’s outerwear, and are gradually making a return. Indiana Jones famously sparked a demand for fedoras, as still do the Blues Brothers.

Recent years have seen dramatic changes in men’s fashion, the emphasis switching to casual wear, particularly during lockdowns and working-at-home periods. As office life returns, Nick Pedlar expects a post-covid resurgence of more formal dress, and lamented that so few white shirts are now made in the UK. In 2021, guests wanting one for a wedding or funeral were disappointed. Manufacturer Double 2’s shipment of plain white shirts from Bangladesh sold out upon arrival.

The past two years have been catastrophic for retailers, but those selling essential items adapted quickly to coronavirus measures, as did Pedlar’s. Throughout the darkest days of the pandemic, a special ordering counter was set up at its entrance, with staff making some 30-40 same-day home deliveries.

As we emerge from the life-changing episode, the store is enjoying a record year of sales. Loyal customers who have moved from the district still return from as far away as Bideford and South Molton.

Nick remains a familiar and amiable daily presence. Outside opening hours, he has been a member of Ilfracombe Round Table and the Rotary Club for 20 and 35 years respectively, and for 42 years served as choirmaster at Holy Trinity Church. Daughter Helen, has taken a key role in keeping Pedlar’s as reliable and relevant to Ilfracombe households as it was one hundred years ago. Four candles? They’re on the right-hand side.