Ipswich: Franklin's fabric shop gets historic new home

Franklins has moved from St Matthews Street to Westgate Street - and is now in the shop that was for a quarter of a century the home of the town's best-known fabric store.

Janet Franklin shows off some of the fabric in the new Ipswich store (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Its new home was built in 1963 for fabric retailer Gordon Thoday which provided material and patterns for thousands of Suffolk dressmakers.

That store closed in the late 1980s and Superdrug moved in. 

Now the old fabric store has been bought by Franklins - and there was a real feeling of a new start when it opened for the first time on Wednesday.

Franklins opened its first shop in Colchester in 1956 and in Ipswich two years later - at the time it specialised in selling sewing machines but over the years it has expanded into fabric and other craft supplies.

Janet Franklin meeting customers in the new shop. (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Founder Janet Franklin, who is now 85, was in the new store on Wednesday - helping out at the tills and giving advice to customers.

She said: "We needed a new larger shop here in Ipswich - our previous store was a bit smaller than our others - and the chance came to buy this so we took it."

In its heyday Gordon Thoday operated from two floors - at present Franklins is only on the ground floor. There are no immediate plans to expand but the Franklin family is aware of the possibilities if needed!

Mrs Franklin is still heavily involved in what is very much a family business with three generations of the family involved in the company.

It has several shops in towns and cities in the south of England and a warehouse in Colchester - it is a major importer of sewing machines which are also supplied to other retailers.

Mrs Franklin said dressmaking and crafting had seen a huge boost during lockdown, and people were now enjoying coming out to shops like Franklins to buy new supplies and also learn about more skills they could learn.

Nathan Franklin showing a customer how to use a new sewing machine. (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Her grandson Nathan was helping give advice to customers looking to buy new a new sewing machine.

He said: "The personal service is very important. You can really help the customer get what they want for the kind of work they want to do."

That is very important when the cost of sewing machines can go from £100 for a straightforward machine to nearly £3,000 for one with a host of different features.

New sewing machines can vary in price from about £100 to nearly £3,000. (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Some people have converted a spare bedroom into a sewing room - and the shop can cater for those who want to make the most of their hobby.

The store attracts customers from a wide area - looking for advice alongside their new crafting supplies. One couple from Reading in Berkshire were keenly getting advice during a visit on Wednesday.

Many of the shoppers who visited the store on its first day remembered coming to the store when it was Gordon Thoday's.

Janet Peck started her career working for Gordon Thoday. Now she is back in the same building after 27 years with Franklins. (Image: Charlotte Bond)

And that memory was particularly strong for shop-worker Janet Peck who had worked at Gordon Thoday's for three years before leaving to have a family.

She said: "I started my career here for three years before I stopped working - and now I'm back working here all these years later.

"I've been working for Franklin's for 27 years and now as I start to think about retirement I'm back in the same shop where I started.

"It's very different, but you're still working with the same kind of things - and it's good to be able to help people get what they want."

The move of the shop does mean that its old home in St Matthew's Street is now empty - but that is not likely to remain like that for long.

Mrs Franklin said: "We still own that site and we have found someone else to move in. I cannot say exactly who it is yet - but there will be an announcement fairly soon."

He family was very keen to see town centres like Ipswich and Colchester thrive - although both centres have had challenges recently.

"I'm just glad that we're able to bring a bit news to the town centre," she said.