Co-Op Shoe Shop Gillingham High Street

High Street c1960
Enlarge photo |  More about this photo

My first job when I left school in 1961 was at the Co-op shoe shop. I worked in the men's dept, and on my first day I had to open every box of shoes, dust them, and the box, and put them back on the shelf. After 2 days I reported I had finished, only to be told "go back and do it again". But whenever a customer asked for a size ,colour, or style, I knew exactly where the shoes were. We closed at 5.30 but there was always some clever so and so who would come in, look at severel pairs of shoes, then go because he didn't like any of them, and so I finished at 6.30. Then in 1962/63 a new shop front was built, while we worked on with a huge gaping hole in the wall, who can forget that winter? I rest my case!