Pontefract ladies' fashion shop Chris Atkinson to close after 48 years

Her latest winter collection is the last season of clothes and she expects her Chris Atkinson shop will close around Christmas time. The shop at 35 Ropergate is up for sale and the fashion business will come to an end when Chris retires.

Chris said: “It has been an amazing experience, one that I have truly enjoyed and will never forget.” Customers have been trusting Chris's fashion judgements since she opened her first shop at 24 Ropergate in November 1978. Chris stayed there for around 10 years and moved to the current shop at 35 Ropergate in the late 1980s. Many of her customers regularly pop in the shop for a cup of tea and a chat. She said: "We have all become friends - it is a very personal service." "I have always sold a certain look. It was my personal choice of style. "I went to showrooms in Leeds and eventually I ended up going to London. "There was an area like Leeds where all the fashion agents had their clothes that we chose from all round Great Portman Street in London. Chris said said she continued buying from the Portman Street area of London and also visited fashion exhibitions in Harrogate. She said: "As I went along I got to know all my customers and they relied on me to buy things they would like. "We have been through everything, the miners strike recessions you name it, but then a whole new world started in COVID. "We started with Instagram, which opened up another avenue and brought another string to the business. "I'm not online I just post new collections on Instagram and Facebook and those customers are still with us today. They continued after Covid and they continued to shop here."

Sue Dyson has worked for the business for around six years. She said: "The customers are all saying they are going to miss us and where are they going to shop?" Chris said: "I have always had great staff and Sue has been a great help over the last few years.

"She has taken the pressure off me by taking over the admin work to give me more time to concentrate on the customers Chris went to Normanton Secondary Modern School and left at 15. She worked in the haberdashery department at Kingswells department store on the Bullring in Wakefield city centre. Che then worked as a window dresser at Richard Shops in Wakefield before the before the spell working in administration at County Hall in Wakefield before starting her own business.