Alan Jackson closes after 21 years

Way too expensive.

Wow. I am sorry to see this go. Best of luck to Alan and his team with what ever they do.

What a damn shame - this was a great village shop and I am sure will be sorely missed. I wonder if this business has been caught in the crossfire of the Tesco/Co-op/Waitrose triangle?

I will not use the new Waitrose once that is opened, purely because our village , in my opinion , does not require another large chain of foodmarket to take over the units that once held Alderley 'gems' such as Fruitcake and The Mandarin.

We (or rather the council) are selling out to these large superpowers... when will the drive thru open up? Perhaps that's what will go on the demolished Royal Oak site as the Council still have not permitted housing on there!

My best wishes go to Alan... a sad day for all surrounding 'indie' businesses.

I suggest locals try The Village Butchers who have been in Alderley longer than AJ anyway and have always offered decent and cheaper meat. Their sausages are great! Alternatively there's always Horseshoe Farm.

Waitrose coming will be a good addition - the more the merrier and I shall use them all depending on my requirements. I am sorry that Fruit Cake and the Mandarin have gone though; especially the former as it offered young parents the opportunity to enjoy a coffee with their children happily occupied with toys etc. Maybe one of the other cafes in the village could offer this facility?

Good luck in the future Alan, sorry to see you close, excellent quality, great customer service.

I honestly can't say I'm sorry to see it go. There are far better butchers locally, selling better quality meat at a far better price. Good butchers, like any other business will survive because customers will use them and feel they are getting fair value for money. The fact that it has closed implies that a lack of customers has ceased to make the shop viable.

Alan Jackson served his time with Partingtons Butchers, what a shame that Alan has had to close (for what ever reason) another piece of Alderley bites the dust.

Sad to read this, never good to see local businesses close. Makes me wonder what the village will look like in 10 years because the amount of independent traders closing is frightening..

Hard to wish him well when he has done a flit with my money and leaves me high and dry for a big hog roast party tomorrow (a very special occasion too) with no pig, no roaster and no notice. Only just found out when trying to call him now to see what time today it's all arriving!

Presume this business has gone under due to financial stresses. Everybody will understand this but it is no excuse for rudeness towards customers who supported that business for years and who spoke highly of it.

Leaving people un-catered for, and with deposits lost, is not exactly considerate or professional. If he had only made a call to those who had booked services or goods it would be totally understandable. Yet he moved out on Monday -- moonlight flit as Steve says, above -- and plainly didn't use the last four days calling the people he has let down.

I for one am very sorry to see Alan go and I am a vegetarian! Why do we need three supermarkets in the village anyway, it's just stupid I don't want to see huge conglomerates taking over the village. I would rather spend my money with family run businesses like Granthams, Fruitcake, Weinholts and the Cheese Wedge. Do we really want London Rd. to look just like every other high street in the country?

An old friend so I am saddened but times have changed I'd recoemmend horseshoe farm myself the meat is superb.

Sad to see yet another empty unit on London Road, although I have to say Alderley Village Butchers has always offered better value for money in my opinion. It would be great to see the return of a quality, independent Green Grocer like the one that used to be next to Wienholts, but with three supermarkets in the village I doubt it will happen.

The same question [why do we need three supermarkets] could be asked about the butchers - why did we need two butchers?

One butcher, a business that failed because he over charged for adequate meat and another who serves good meat at reasonable prices. At some point market forces have to take over and as 'nice' looking as Alan's shop was, charging twice the market rate just doesn't work in the long run.

Hopefully this closure will ensure the long term viability of The Village Butcher, who I have nothing but praise for.

Three Supermarkets won't survive - especially if those people who want to see the continuation of the traditional village shops take action by always shopping in them.

It would be lovely to have Granthams next to Wienholts :)

I couldn't agree more with Heather re Granthams.

I always felt Jacksons were overpriced for their meat and agree that Horseshoe Farm and the Village Butcher will more than adequately fill any gap. It was unforgivable to 'flit' without informing people to whom there were commitments owed.

This is an awful shock. I too have an event planned with Alan for July and he has taken a very substantial deposit from me that I obviously now need to get back.

Perhaps Alderleyedge.com itself can help - somebody in the village knows how to reach Alan and ensure that trusting customers are not left in the lurch and out of pocket by very large sums of money?

Please could anybody who has Alan's mobile number email to so that I can call him?

Lorna, poor you.

I suspect that you are better off walking away from this and not even taking time to try and pursue it.

The fact that he asked for cash probably indicates that there won't be any funds to hand back, I rather think. Therefore, all you will achieve by pursuing him, is anguish for yourself. I'd imagine you're better off channelling energies into your event and put this down as a learning experience; no more cash deals for any of us!

Lorna, so sorry to hear you are suffering the same fate. We had no notice and only learned the day before our event when we called at his shop to check on arrangements for the following day. It was closed. His land and mobile numbers are unobtainable. It was such a blow as AJ knew this party was to mark the end of my partners chemotherapy treatment. If he had just called to say he couldnt honour his commitment or repay our money, but.... If I hear anything I will let you know via Alderleyedge.com. Without Alderleyedge.com, I wouldnt have found out about the flit.

This shop has closed, presumably, because they were too expensive and could not, or would not, compete with others at better prices ?

Many people seem to dislike the idea that a Waitrose store is coming to the village.
Waitrose is a great supermarket and a bench-mark for others.

Okay, so a small butchers shop has gone and a few people have lost their jobs, but when Waitrose open their doors they will need to employ staff and most probably LOCAL staff.

These sort of businesses create jobs and opportunities, so don't dismiss Waitrose as "Just another supermarket driving local businesses to the wall"

They are a great company and will create great opportunities for locals here in Alderley Edge.

Well I've just read Suzanne's comment and all of a sudden I've lost any sympathy I had for Alan, hopefully one day he may actually apologise to the people he has let down.

If you follow the comments about market forces, small shops cannot compete with the buying power of supermarkets, so prices are higher. We will have three supermarkets right in the Village. Therefore it will make things very hard in an already difficult climate for small shops. I agree Waitrose is a very good supermarket. There's one in Wilmslow 10 minutes away.

I suspect part of the reason people live in Alderley Edge is because it does have a nice village atmosphere and the shops are a part of that. If the shops go what happens then? Presumably competition / market forces between the supermarkets will dictate that we eventually will end up with only one supermarket, right back where we started, but with a lot of empty premises and a Village that’s not as nice to live in.

I would like to thank the local businesses you pulled out all the stops to retrieve the situation (if not the money) at the very last minute. Alderley Village Butchers were great, sourcing a pig and Rick Palmer and Co, event and party catering in Sutton, somehow came up with a hog roaster at very very short notice. Fosters Fish and Chips offered to deliver fish and chips if all else failed. I am very grateful to all.

Hi Sarah,
As there were two similar Butchers side by side on the same street of the village we have a pretty good 'test and control' to understand why one has closed and the other hasn't. Answer: Price. Alan Jackson once charged my elderley mum £12 for a tiny free range chicken who was, (like many I suspect) too embarrassed not to pay. The attitude that all Alderley residents are happy to pay over the odds for superficiality annoys me and I'm pleased to see that they have voted with their feet.

Market forces are more about supply and demand, of which price is a component. There wasn't enough demand for two / three butchers (if you include Horseshoe Farm) - i.e. there was oversupply and the weakest business was forced to close.

If you continue this theme, in my opinion, there is not enough demand for three supermarkets and we will lose at least one of them in the future. Which one it will be makes an interesting debate. Unless the rumors about Tesco's closing are true, I'd put my money on it being the Co op.

To preserve the village feel we need the available retail spaces (of which there isn't many which is a good sign), to be filled with well run businesses that serve the community. Jackson's didn't do this. This natural culling leaves that space free for a new business to blossom. I personally hope for a fishmonger or Grantham's to move in to the village but would be very interested in everyone else's thoughts?

The fact that he stayed in business for over 20 years just goes to show how many people have become detached from the process of food shopping with regards to recognising provenance quality and value for money. If he had opened his shop in a village France for instance, I reckon he would have either been bankrupt within the week or burnt at the steak (geddit??).

I would love to see a fishmonger/greengrocer return to the village. The two often went hand in hand in the past. I would also dearly love to see Tesco depart and then perhaps we could tempt Granthams into the centre of the village in their premises! Hey ho perhaps good may come out of bad - we can only hope.

Yes, lets get rid of all the supermarkets throughout the country and get back to queuing for 1 hour at each small grocery shop where the shop owner had to personally serve you and take the item off the shelf at the back of the shop and bring it to the front counter where you are standing, repeating that action 20 times for the 20 different grocery items you needed.
Can you imagine doing that for every grocery item you required ?
Wake up and smell the coffee ! This is 2011, not the 1940's !!!

I believe Jackson has opened in Hale, anyone know about this?

Sarah,
Just looked online and that seems to be the case. There is a working telephone too!
Might pop round and offer to accept goods in lieu of the cash owed!

I suggest everyone gets together, hires a mini-bus and we will all have a Grand Day out to AJ in Hale? Stop for a few beers en route...and a steak?

Glad to be of help,perhaps you should sort a plan of action off-line. You never know who is behind this. Go guys!!!!

Sarah - The butchers in Hale you are referring to is run and owned by Paul Allman who used to be Alan Jackson's step son.

Paul left the Alderley Edge shop in March 2009 to set up his own business, originally it traded under the Alan Jackson name but was re-branded 4/5 months ago and is called 'The Butchers' and is located at 34 Park Road Hale.

My understanding is that it is, and always was, a separate business which Alan was not involved with - his step-son just paid to use his name.

Alan has disappeared and his family have no idea where he is.

As to your comment re 'You never know who is behind this' I assume you are referring to alderleyedge.com and therefore myself - for some reason you are raising concerns about my honesty and integrity?

I'm not surprised to see that Jacksons is "no more". Like many of you, I believe it was not value for money.
I would really like a fish mongers to open in the village too. Good quality fish and seafood is more difficult to source than it should be. We have proportionally far more butchers/farmshops to fish mongers which I feel is a shame!

See comment re. fishmongers from Steve Savage in the Discussion Forum here
http://www.alderleyedge.com/forum/topic/257.

Our two (reasonably) local fishmongers are hardly busy enough as it is. Will Waitrose include a small fish counter do you think? Clear differentiation from the other two at least!

Please see our forum for a discussion regarding what shops you would like to see replace Alan Jackson or fill any other empty units in the village.

http://www.alderleyedge.com/forum/topic/257

Hello David
Actually the suggestion was not as you appear to think that we get rid of all modern retailing simply that we have choice. As you may have noticed there was no suggestion in my post that the village should not have supermarkets but that a wider range of product choice be available in the village.

If you are looking for a fantastic fishmonger then you don't have to look any further than Alderley Edge Farmers Market. Danny O'Neil comes to the market every month and has a large and varied selection of fish and shellfish. The next market is held on 10th July, come and see for yourself.

Thanks Christine, I'll take your recommendation and try that!

Fresh fish can also be delivered to your door in Alderley Edge and Wilmslow.

In Reply to Jeremy,
Back in the "good old days" we actually had four butchers in Alderley.Later we had two supermarkets as well,both in the precinct,next door to each other-just as we are about to have again.History repeats!!

Yesterday I spent the day walking in the peak district and I am convinced I saw Alan at a Campsite in Edale! 99% certain it was him, as used his services for many years. Has he really gone missing?

Like Suzanne and Lorna we paid £750 to Alan jackson to cater for our daughters christening which obviously we have lost.

I've heard from lots of other butchers in the area and apparently he's owed money left, right and centre for years. Allegedly his meat (unlike what we have been led to believe) was sourced from any supplier he could use so not exactly fine quality!

I'm even more cross now as he's been spotted drinking in west didsbury and alderley edge. If anyone has any luck getting money back the please let me know vis this message board. Many thanks to Nixons farm in Heald Green for a fabulous bbq at 4 days notice ( and at less than half the price)