Len and Sandy Litten bought Top of the Crops at 54 Glastonbury High Street two and a half years ago. It had been run as a greengrocer’s for 12 years previously, and before that it was a large ironmonger’s, amalgamated with the next door premises - now the 100 Monkeys restaurant, which the greengrocer currently supplies.
The Littens had officially retired, but Len, aged 66, found that he “just couldn’t stop”, having worked since leaving school at 15. So the pair decided to take over at Top of the Crops, which they saw by chance while on a day visit to Glastonbury. They had not run a greengrocery for more than 20 years (having run newsagents in the interim), and Len was surprised by the big change in the trade.
Two years ago he had a heart attack, which he attributes partly to the strain of the 14-hour days, with thrice-weekly visits to Bristol market starting at 4am. So it was on his doctor’s advice that the pair put the shop on the market. But so far, no buyers have come forward, despite the fact that Stokes has closed a number of branches recently and the biggestgreengrocer in the north has gone out of business. One would think there would be an experienced greengrocer somewhere who would like to relocate to the ‘Isle of Apples’ - the meaning of Glastonbury’s Celtic name, Avalon.
Len thinks the lack of takers might be due to the position of the shop at the upper end of the High Street. Ruth Morland, president of the Chamber of Commerce, told FPJ that services like hairdressers tend to do better at that end of the High Street, but that often people will not walk that far to buy produce. Nevertheless, the Post Office, as well as the town’s delicatessen - The Truckle of Cheese - a chemist, the pet store and a discount store are all up that end of town, as are several takeaways, a café, and an Indian restaurant.
Len does not want to see his business turned over to something else, so he is determined to stay until the right buyer arrives. The asking price is £33,000, but if approached directly, he would be able to come down a bit, he says. The turnover is around £100,000 and he says his income varies, though it is usually about 35 per cent of that sum.
Christine Fisher, of organisation Greengrocers’ Campaigner, says: “I rediscovered shopping in small shops and local high streets when I retired - which is why I am doing my best to help greengrocers survive.” She is aware of the creeping closures of local shops at a time when shopping locally is actually becoming more important. Organisations such as Friends of the Earth and Transition Towns are encouraging re-localisation within communities in preparation for the uncertain effects of peak oil and climate change.
“It would be excellent to see a community getting behind a greengrocer and helping his business to continue,” says Fisher, who points out that once a greengrocer goes, that can be the beginning of the slippery slope to a town losing its heart.
Some think the asking price is a lot to pay when there are several empty shops in the High Street. Apart from Top of the Crops, the town is also served by two greengrocery stalls at the Tuesday market, one of which is run by Somerset Organic Link (SOL), which also provides weekly vegetable boxes to the Windmill Hill Organic Project. Caroline Le co-ordinates this, as well as co-organising Transition Town Glastonbury’s Food Group. She says: “Glastonbury is a large town. If we do not have a greengrocer, where will people get their fresh produce from? They may be forced to go to the supermarket, and this will have repercussions on other shops in the High Street.”
There is also a monthly farmers’ market, as many local people grow vegetables. Somerset Local Food Direct operates a delivery service to the customer’s door, and a local food co-operative runs a weekly organic produce shop in Bridie’s Yard, on the town’s outskirts. Christina Ballinger of SOL says it has considered taking over Top of the Crops, but that SOL is “too small and too new” to branch into retail. She did, however, say that, should the shop be converted to a community-run, local food enterprise, SOL would be interested in contributing.
The diversity of local organic producers has prompted some in the town to say that the current greengrocer’s might be better replaced by a shop selling local organic produce of all varieties, but Litten is not so sure.
Lewis says: “It’s common sense to me to support local farmers and reduce food miles. Food is fresher if it is only transported short distances, and this also reduces the environmental impact of fossil fuels used in transport.
“Currently this shop is likely to serve a real cross-section of the town and is open much longer hours than the other outlets. It has traditionally stocked a good range of seasonal, non-seasonal, local and non-local, as well as organic and non-organic produce - so its range is different from the other suppliers.”
The Littens can be contacted at: Top of the Crops, 54 High Street, Glastonbury, BA6 9DY. Telephone: 01458 834 802.
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