We are Stockports best and oldest DIY store and I say that very confidently and heres why...
Established in 1961 Colin Jennings opened his DIY store on the Chestergate area of Stockport, King Street behind the bus station if your a local. The shop was an alladins cave of all things general hardware and diy and the custom quickly grew into a mix of loyal regular trade customers and the general diyer. With a handful of staff the store's reputation for its large variety of stock and the good product knowledge from the staff made Chestergate Wood Supplies a big hit in the town.
The increase in demand and the opportunity to bring in a whole new range of products and departments saw the need for bigger premisis and so the business moved to Portwood just on the roundabout (again for all the locals). Here the 2 floor large space offered the opportunity to embark on a kitchen sales department .. well all furniture to be clear.. bedrooms, offices, horseboxes we made or sold it all. The mezzanine floor in the 90s was a bustle of shoppers looking for their new dream room whilst downstairs was the original DIY store selling all the hardware products that any keen diyer or tradesman would need.
The 90s also saw the change of management from Colin to his son Michael Jennings as dad retired he saw the fresh approach of the next generation bring in new relevant products and services but also Mike was very keen to keep the traditions and values of Chestergate Wood Supplies that Colin had proudly instilled.
Chestergate has built its foundation not only on general hardware but our cutting service of all sheet material is still to this day our biggest seller. We sell all your everyday boards melamine, plywood, mdf etc but also the specialist stuff like marine plywood, moisture resistant mdf and bendy plywoods / mdfs. This variety and the fact that we can literally cut to your specific sizes it makes your projects so much easier and a service thats in high demand.
This could be a long story so i will trim it down...
With the economic change in 2008 and the change in way people shop we decided that an online store was the way forward and so we moved the business to Bredbury where we operate from a warehouse and predominantly aim for online sales as we no longer have a showroom or retail unit. Starting on Ebay and Amazon as Gate Diy Supplies we built our stores up and have been really successful in providing our same great products and amazing service to nationwide customers. And now we have our website that is proving to be a great achievement and sales point for us bringing in more and more sales each week. With new products added daily we have our own virtual alladins cave now.
So what makes us number 1 ???
The fact that we have been established in the same family and trading successfully since 1961 says alot about the store and its reputation. The variety of products we have from all your new needs to the time old hardware that joiners are still using we have it all. The ethos of good customer service being key to success and the fact that we constantly strive to do better be better and to find new products before competitors and at better prices .... Thats what i think makes us Number 1 !!!!