The Liverpool family-run Aladdin's Cave shop which stocks over 20,000 products

When Helen Carvell’s family opened Chandlers on Allerton Road 31 years ago they had a clear idea of what to offer customers.

“We wanted to give people choice, to keep our prices down and hopefully give the best customer service we could. That’s how we’ve done things from the start,” says Helen.

“Because we’re hands on, we’re always in the shop, we listen to people and that’s how we know what to stock.

“From less than 100 products we now have about 20,000 lines, it’s like a proper Aladdin’s Cave.”

Chandlers’ reputation for selling anything and everything has made it a south Liverpool institution and that’s exactly what Helen, her brother Ian and their mum and dad intended when the shop first launched.

She explains:

“My grandad used to work for a wholesaler, and he was retiring so my mum and dad decided to take on the business. We were wholesalers and brush manufacturers, based where Tesco now is in Woolton.

“We used to sell to all the shops in Liverpool and North Wales, and in those days there were a lot of chandlers; there’d always be a little general shop at the end of the street that sold everything.

“In the mid-90s we realised there were less and less shops to supply, so when this site came free on Allerton Road we thought we’d set up our own family business and concentrate on that.

“I remember the Saturday we first opened, me and my dad went in and it was a really hot day in May. We were just putting things like hosepipes and charcoal in, and we weren’t actually open, but people were coming over and asking to buy things.

“We didn’t have a till so we got a little lunchbox and just started selling, there was no grand opening or anything, we were just so chuffed to make our first sales.

“The site had been an old shoe shop, so we started with a curtain across the space and things like mops, brushes, watering cans and cloths, then as we got more stock we just kept moving the curtain back and back!

“People told us what they wanted, if we didn’t have it we’d try to get it for that week, and it just grew.”

Helen compares Chandlers to Open All Hours, the classic TV comedy show starring Ronnie Barker and David Jason that centres around an old fashioned corner shop.

“We sell so many random things, from little patterned cupboard doorknobs which people love for revamping furniture, to mending patches and needle threaders.

“If someone asks for a plug we have to check if it’s a bath plug or an electrical one. We joke that we even have fork handles and four candles!”

Helen was just 19 and studying business, marketing and psychology at John Moores Uni when Chandlers opened, and it’s become her career ever since.

Her mum has now retired but her dad, who’s in his late 70s, still does the accounts, with Helen and her brother splitting the buying. He’s on DIY, she looks after their plant selection, sourcing from local nurseries and internationally to get the best buys.

“For the houseplants and special ones I go on the Dutch auctions,” she says. “I’m like a woman possessed at 4am because I like to get a bargain and pass it to our customers. If I get it for a good price, they’ll get it for a good price, so I’m on a mission to get it.”

Helen, 50, says they feel incredibly lucky to have sustained and built their business over three decades, and she believes friendly personal service has played a big part in their success.

“I think, especially post-Covid, it’s nice to be able to shop in your area, get what you want, speak to a person, and maybe get some advice.

“We do get older customers, but we also have a lot of people who work from home who maybe haven’t spoken to anyone all day so when they do pop out they like to have that interaction.

“I understand people shop online, I do myself, but I think we’re seeing a pushing back more towards ‘we’re people not robots, this is what we want and what we deserve – choice, a good service, and to use cash’.”

Over the years, many customers have become friends, adds Helen.

“I know people’s names and they ask about our family. They are genuinely interested and I’m interested in them.

“Some actually came to the church in Hale when I got married years ago, there they were when I came out. I couldn’t believe it, it was lovely.

“We are very lucky to have so many loyal customers who keep coming back. We’re part of the community, and without them we wouldn’t be here.”