Turn Back Time (2010) s01e05 Episode Script
1960s
1 One typical British town.
Its high street was once its heart and soul.
Not any more.
But what if we could turn back time to the days of the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker? A group of shopkeepers and their families have left the 21 st century behind.
You are going to discover what the high street was really like.
Your aim is to make this town fall in love with this high street again.
Sell, sell, sell.
Each week they're living and trading through a different era.
Can't get any more lift.
From Victorian to Edwardian.
Rabbits, pheasants.
Through peacetime and wartime.
The swinging '60s to the shocking '70s.
100 years of high street history.
It's absolutely magical.
Can they sell the products of the past to 21 st-century customers? Oh, the poor creatures.
I'd be frightened to give this to the birds.
Pimpin'.
And can they make a profit while they're at it? This is unbelievably hard.
I don't know how these poor buggers did this in the old days.
If I'm really being honest, I hate it! Tonight the shopkeepers enter the swinging '60s, where it's all change.
So I'm not a dressmaker any more.
What have you done? Where's my butcher gone? Why are we not bakers? Competition hits the high street.
The general store hasn't got the faintest chance of getting anywhere near us.
The Sergisons have got an advantage over us, so we're gonna take that advantage away.
The battle lines are drawn.
Now we just have to commence battle.
And history puts some out of business.
All of the old ways of thinking and working are gone forever.
But what will customers think? You are changing the whole community here and taking the whole heart out of it.
I hope you can sleep at night, that's all I can say.
For the Somerset town of Shepton Mallet, World War II has ended.
The shelves are just bare.
It's like walking into a closed shop.
- You're allowed one egg each.
- Oh, dear.
What are we gonna do? Now the shopkeepers are travelling forward in time to the early 1960s high street, where every shop has been totally transformed.
In 1960s Britain, the economy was booming.
Self-service and mass production meant cheaper food and more choice.
Britain had never had it so good.
There's gonna be a drastic change from the bleak rations of the Second World War.
Should have a lot more fun this era.
The '60s is all about the fashion, all about being brave with what you're wearing and making a statement.
Well, the '60s was a time of plenty, wasn't it? Youth, music and everything else, yeah.
We're looking forward to it.
Making sure that they stick to the rules of the era is the Chamber of Commerce, 5th-generation baker Tom Herbert, social historian Juliet Gardiner and successful greengrocer Gregg Wallace.
Welcome, everybody, to the 1960s, and I bet you're really pleased to leave the austerity of wartime behind.
Well, so was the whole of Great Britain.
The 1960s were a remarkable era of transition.
The British public embraced self-service shops.
But not everyone was happy with it.
So the challenge for you is going to be to find out what your customers really want and be able to respond to that.
You have to concentrate on a new consumer, the teenager, and your challenge really is to see whether you can tempt modern teenagers back to the high street.
And shops stopped being complimentary to each other.
Competition really kicked in.
You are gonna experience what small traders went through in a bid to just stay in business.
Please go and see your shops and good luck.
Last time, bakers the Devlins were feeding the town from a wartime restaurant, but their shop has totally transformed.
- Milk bar.
- We're a milk bar.
That's what we want.
The milk bar sold a new American dream to Britain's youth in the form of milk shakes, burgers and frothy coffees, all to a '60s soundtrack.
We can see some major diversification going on in the baker's.
They're now a milk bar.
We were expecting a surprise but we weren't expecting that sort of surprise.
- Oh, gosh.
- That is huge.
Of course, their challenge is to tempt modern teens in.
I think with their young lads, they've got a chance of doing that.
They might even make some money this era.
If we were out of our comfort zone during the last period, we're way, way outside our comfort zone now.
The '60s teenagers really loved these milk bars.
If you can bring that experience to the teenagers of today, they're gonna make a killing.
Milk shakes, music, that's a winner.
That's a winner.
Butcher Andrew Sharp and son Michael also have a surprise in store.
During the '60s, tens of thousands of butchers lost their jobs, as butchery moved out of shops and into processing plants.
But there was a way to stay in business.
General store? We've got a general store.
Are you having a laugh? The general store amalgamated hardware and food.
I don't think Andrew's gonna be very happy.
I mean, he's a real skilled butcher and all of his meat's taken away.
Oh, shovels.
Tea strainers.
Wallpaper.
- Is there anything we don't sell? - Yeah, meat.
We've gotta sell meat.
We're bloody butchers.
He's still gonna serve the needs of the high street.
So what you're saying is, people have loved the butcher, but now they're gonna go in and buy a watering can.
I can't see how an absolute expert in slaughtered beasts can all of a sudden become an expert on shovels.
To be honest, I don't have a clue about any of this stuff.
This is certainly not what I'm about, that's for sure.
Across the square - Wow.
- A supermarket.
Look at the colours.
The Sergison's family grocer has become partly self-service.
But what will Karl's customers make of it? They've enjoyed one-to-one personal service since the 1870s.
Blackcurrant, please.
If you'd like to take a seat, we'll have it all organised.
Thank you very much.
Won't it be a loss for this high street not to have the Sergisons so at the front of it? They've really been out on the high street pulling people in.
Now they're gonna be very much in the background.
- Do you think people will miss that? - It's going to divide people.
Some people are going to really like the convenience.
Other people are going to miss the personal service.
It'll be very interesting to see how it plays out.
Well, we're just gonna make an absolute killing, aren't we, babe? The shop is bigger, with a wide range of prepacked convenience foods.
We're gonna have bread, we're gonna have fruit and veg, so I reckon we're gonna clean up quite happily.
But the biggest change of all on the high street awaits dressmaker Gill.
That's a hairdressing salon.
Oh, my God.
My dressmaker's has gone.
Until now, Gill has sewed her way through three eras, from Edwardian to the 1940s.
But during the 1960s, cheap off-the-peg clothing meant that bespoke was out of fashion.
Completely, absolutely shocked.
So Gill will have to adapt to survive, and in the '60s, the hair and beauty industry was booming.
One of the reasons why hairdressing became so important was because fewer and fewer women were wearing hats.
After all, if you think, in the '50s, women never went out hardly without a hat.
By the '60s, young women weren't wearing hats at all, so hair became really important.
There are scissors here, which worries me.
I really don't think I should be cutting anybody's hair.
Gill's not actually a hairdresser and she now owns a beauty salon and hairdresser, so it's completely out of her comfort zone.
I feel very daunted by it, to be honest.
I don't want to upset anybody.
I know what girls are like about their hair.
There's gonna be a very steep learning curve involved in this era.
But she doesn't need to worry for long.
The Chamber of Commerce have sent Gill her first employee.
- Hi.
Are you Gill? - Yes.
Hello.
- Hi.
I'm Naomi.
- Hi.
I'm a hairdresser.
I'm here to help you this week.
I so need some help.
- Can you cut hair? - Yes.
- Hallelujah.
- I'm a hairdresser.
The shopkeepers have all been given manuals by the Chamber of Commerce, instructing them on how to run their 1960s businesses.
"The way you display your goods will be crucial.
They are silent salesmen and need to sell themselves to your customers.
" The first task for the Sergisons is to decide how to display their stock.
Have gaps in between them.
You're never gonna fill all these shelves.
- Well - There's no wells.
You'll have one shelf full of food and everything else empty.
The advent of self-service meant customers interacted with the product, not the shopkeeper.
Strategies to encourage customers to part with their cash quickly developed.
Eye-level shelving was for the bestsellers.
In '60s speak, that's the A-line.
The main row, the main A-line, is cereal.
- Yeah.
- All right.
So are you happy like that? No, we're just saying go up the whole lot layer.
Eye line is A-line, and that's my eye-line.
But it's not an A-line product.
- That's what we're saying.
- Oh.
This is meant to be our most important shelf and the whole thing is just cereal.
So why did you tell me once I'd put the whole shelf on? He tells me once I've filled the whole shelf with bloody cereal.
Stupid arse.
Do you reckon the Sergisons will have bread? Definitely.
For the first time on the high street, there is direct competition, as the grocers and the general store sell many identical items.
This will look a million times better than Mr Sharp's, because he's old hat.
He is old-fashioned.
So, no, we look clean, shiny and pristine.
He looks dour and old.
The Sharps are attempting an eye-catching display of their own.
No, but having that across there like that would look awesome.
Right, what can we do about signage? Neither of us can write.
"Fly in here for the best service in town.
" "Personal service.
" No, that's a bit crap, that.
We'll think about signage later.
We could empty this rubbish stuff out of this basket and we could have like, say, some jams in it or No.
No.
Let's have a - Or have a basket of eggs.
- You're gonna break 'em.
Let's do things that we're not gonna damage and lose money on.
Right.
OK, go and get that jam from round there.
- Yes, sir.
- And hurry up about it.
They haven't exactly got the competition running scared.
Have you seen their window display? It's absolutely crap.
Yeah, that's all right.
With the butcher and the grocer now selling bread, the bakers are taking delivery of milk.
- Hello.
- Hello.
How are you? Good Lord.
In past eras, they've provided the town with handmade bread.
Specialist machinery and a plethora of chemical improvers meant that bread could be made in a factory in just four hours, as opposed to 12 hours in a traditional baker's, putting 20,000 bakery staff out of work during the '60s.
- Why are we not bakers? - We're just a victim of change.
Don't you feel like you've sold your soul? - Because I do.
- Of course, of course.
Any expertise that you've had previously and any need the community have had for you has now gone.
We can try and adapt, as we're trying to do here, but the reality is we're at the vagaries of the marketplace.
Whatever people's choices are, we have to keep abreast of that or go under.
- No more bread.
- No more bread.
But we've got an alternative at the moment.
- At the moment.
- Yeah.
The Sharps are getting a delivery too.
- At least it's meat.
- Yeah, it's crap.
- It doesn't go in there.
- It does.
It doesn't.
If we take at least one of the doors off, anyway.
It looks like he's got some chilled meat now.
That's not the sort of meat he likes to sell.
It's prepacked crap.
So he won't have the same heart and love.
He might try and lie, but deep down I know he won't like selling it.
Whereas I'll sell anything for a buck.
Right, go on.
During their time on the high street, Andrew and son Michael have sold the town a giant Victorian pig, Edwardian game and wartime mutton.
But his 1960s stock is pre-prepped and already packed, which means the grocer can sell it too.
This is a natural progression from a butcher to actually being a corner shop.
It's commercial bacon, not dry-cured by us.
The ham, again, is cooked in a big factory.
So it's the start of the wonderful world of pink goo.
Welcome, one and all.
Over the eras the shopkeepers have built relationships with a group of customers who have pledged to shop only on the historic high street.
They've shopped through 90 years of history, but for the first time they face a dilemma.
We seem to have some competition, and although I get on with both shopkeepers, it will be interesting as to where I decide to shop, actually.
I'm wondering how that's gonna work out, so I'm looking forward to going in there and trying to get the lowest price I can get.
It's difficult because I've built up a friendship with both shops, so, I don't know, I think it would have to be down to economics, really.
But in the early '60s, it was manufacturers rather than shopkeepers who set the prices of goods.
Known as "resale price maintenance", it meant prices didn't vary much from shop to shop.
So customers will have to make their choices based on something other than price.
- Hello.
- Morning.
- How are you? - Good, thank you.
The Sergisons are offering a radical new way of shopping.
I've also got a leaflet of how to do self-service shopping.
Everything's all priced.
For a nation that had suffered the stranglehold shopkeepers had on customer choice during the war, self-service was a breath of fresh air.
It's nice to be able to pick stuff up and, you know, look at the back of a packet and put it back in your basket and take it out again.
Yeah, great.
But some found it baffling.
Oh, dear, dear.
So I go and collect my own stuff now, do I? Yeah.
See, I've got a flyer telling you how to do your own service.
I really don't know how I'm going to cope.
So I'm sure my grocer boy will help me.
But it is really sad, isn't it? There's no relationship whatsoever, is there? And this town has got used to good old-fashioned service.
- I have to take my shopping with me? - Yes.
- There's no delivery service any more.
- No delivery service.
- And no accounts any more.
- And no accounts either.
Bit of a shame about not having the delivery any more, and the kind of personal service that I had a few decades ago is missing as well now, so - Person across the road do deliveries? - I believe he does, yes.
That might put a different light on it.
It might do, yes.
We might nip across to your colleague over the road and see what he might offer.
Yeah.
He might not have all the wider range as we've got, but I'm sure he'll be able to help you.
- Back in a minute.
- OK.
Despite the Sergisons' confidence about their new-look store, it seems many customers don't want to move with the times.
We don't do deliveries, and that is a downside at the moment, I feel.
Morning, ladies.
Would you like to come in? Good morning.
How are you? You are as welcome here, girls, as you are at home.
- Lovely.
That's nice.
- That's nice of you to say that.
Andrew and Michael are keen to highlight the services they have on offer.
We've got a van.
We can deliver.
Delivery's free so long as you pay us.
- Nothing on tick? - No, you can have tick here.
Unlike the Sergisons, you can have credit.
We've got the Green Shield stamps as well.
Two stamps for a shilling.
Green Shield stamps were the 1960s version of the loyalty card.
At the end of the week, the customer with the most stamps gets to pick a prize from the cabinet.
Do I have to join anything? No, you just have that book and that book's money.
Oh, yes, please.
I'll have a book.
So if you buy lots off us, you get a prize.
Well, what can I start with? Some marmalade.
Could I have a jar of marmalade, please? Absolutely.
There's a nice atmosphere.
You still feel like it's family owned.
They're behind the counter together and they're giving you that service.
It's a nice service to have.
In the grocer's shop they're lovely, but I prefer Mr Sharp and his son.
They're so helpful, they're cheerful, they're happy, and that goes a long way with the customer.
At the Devlins' shop, customers who've bought their bread since the 1870s are coming to terms with the loss of the high street bakers.
What happened to the bakery? I came in to get some bread.
If you go to the grocers, what you'll find is they're stocking what, I think, 70-odd per cent of the people were eating, which is the white sliced, mass-produced loaf.
There's another service bites the dust.
They've actually stopped making bread, so now I'm stuck with two shops with white bread.
It looks pretty tasteless, actually, so I'm going to miss that.
The core customers are genuinely wanting bread, and the business that actually was so essential in previous eras and people had come to rely on has gone.
And it's the start of the slippery slope.
Whilst some are lamenting the passing of old trades, Gill's having to get to grips with a whole new one.
Before she starts trading, the Chamber of Commerce have sent her and Naomi to a specialist '60s hair salon in London for expert tuition.
I'm gonna show you today how to recreate three fabulous styles.
We're gonna have the flip, the bouffant and the beehive.
- Fantastic.
- Let's go.
Now, we're gonna do the flip.
In the 1960s what was important was the volume on the top of the hair.
Hairspray.
A hairstyle like the flip became very popular because of the singer Lula in the early '60s.
Just brush it around your hand, yeah.
That's good.
- That OK? - Very nice.
Oh, that's looking great.
It's so recognisable, isn't it? It's such an iconic style.
Next up for Gill and Naomi, it's a '60s staple, the bouffant.
That is some quiff.
People were inspired by singers or actresses, so the bouffant that we're creating here is very Brigitte Bardot.
Fantastic.
So now we're gonna do the beehive, the most iconic hairstyle of the 1960s.
So we're gonna backcomb all of this.
It has to be quite big.
In the '60s it was all about the bigger, the better.
It still is, darling.
Take all the hair together and really twist it.
Voilà .
That is the beehive.
It looks fantastic.
Having all the professional tips and just little tricks of the trade that we've learned today has made me feel an awful lot more confident that I can carry this off tomorrow when we've got real customers coming into the salon.
Back in Shepton, the Devlins seem busy enough, even if they're not making bread.
Your chips are being cooked.
They shouldn't be long.
My wife's sandwich is a little bit burnt, I think.
Have to see the head chef about that, I'm afraid.
One vanilla.
Milk shake.
Is that right? Oh, you've had one? We just spent 20 minutes doing two orders that didn't exist.
You didn't write down which table it was.
- Jack, shut up, for the last time.
- Jesus Christ.
- I'm helping Mum.
- Well, don't.
Shut up now before I go mad.
I think they've gone to Brazil to get our coffee.
It's what's commonly known in the trade as a baptism of fire.
Despite the teething problems, the customers seem to be liking it.
We used to come into milk bars like this and have a really good time.
It's absolutely marvellous.
We're really enjoying it.
But this lot are 40 years too old.
In the '60s, most teens were working and earning around £150 a week in today's money.
70% of that was disposable income, so it's no surprise the high street provided them with somewhere to go.
Today it's a very different story.
There's never anything to do in Shepton.
- Walk around.
- Go to the park or, like, Tesco's.
Skate park.
People get drunk.
There's nothing else to do.
I just come down here about one and then stay here until ten.
But the milk bar closes with its potential customers unaware that it's a place for them.
It's the end of the first day of trading, and adapting to change continues above the shops.
It's horrible.
Formica.
I've got a bar.
Isn't that lovely? Wouldn't you just want that in your own living room? What's happened on the high street has come as quite a shock to me.
You can see the change more so now than any era we've done so far, and I think it already spells the end for some.
It's quite worrying.
I feel quite nervous about this week.
I am completely out of my comfort zone.
For Gill, it's time to put her skills into practice.
In a world where a woman's place was still mainly in the home, salons were a good bet for those who wanted their own business.
What modern customers will make of it remains to be seen.
And what hairstyle would you like today? Sort of pixie sort of fluffy cut.
Gill embraces management mode.
While Naomi deals with cuts, she'll do styling.
OK.
What sort of thing were you after today? - A beehive.
- A beehive.
A beehive.
Fantastic.
Take a seat.
I'm gonna look really glamorous going to work this afternoon now.
You're going to work this afternoon with a beehive? - Yes.
- Amazing.
Brilliant.
It seems that the nostalgia pull is working wonders for at least two of Shepton's ladies.
I'll show you the back, madam.
I want it to keep like this forever.
It's really nice.
It's really good.
- Well done.
- Thank you.
I've been feeling down lately, and to go in there and have this done, it's lifted my spirits right up.
I feel brilliant.
It's just They've changed me completely.
We've just made ten quid in tips.
We've only had two customers.
That's amazing.
Well done, girl.
We're the next big thing.
The milk bar has attracted another set of customers who want to relive their youth, a group of mods.
By 1960, national service had been abolished and young men found new ways to forge allegiances by joining gangs.
Look at this.
Love it.
Absolutely love it.
I'm just gobsmacked.
It's really authentic, isn't it? It's fantastic.
It's exactly as I remember it, and I love the hairstyle.
Do you really? We were 17-year-old boys.
That's how our mums looked.
Except I think yours had a moustache, didn't she? It's another reminder that the milk bar's customers have seen better days.
You're not allowed to smoke in there, are you? You used to be in the '60s.
Get in there and you had no crash helmet, had the cigarette.
Life was a little bit better, I think.
Over at the general store they're doing a roaring trade, with Michael pulling out all the stops.
Are you looking for a prize out of our cabinet? I am.
I think you might need to buy a little bit more for that.
You're trying your darnedest to make me spend all my money in here, aren't you? If you want a prize, you've gotta pay the price.
I want the radio.
If you buy lots off us, you can have it.
I wish I'd known.
I've just done a week's shopping in the other shop.
I think they do refunds.
And customers are making the most of their delivery service.
What's the charge for delivery? - It's free.
- It's free? Do you want that now and the other things delivered or do you want it all delivered together? Delivery would be nice as you do it for free.
Would you like it now or delivered? I'll have that one delivered.
Special present.
- Thank you so much.
- Lovely.
Bye.
Bye! At the grocer's, Karl's got a new idea to try and win over the customers.
Wow.
We've got pasta.
I wonder if I could interest you in my new continental range.
- Oh, right.
- It's exciting, exotic.
Some of these things you might have seen in the movies.
Pasta and olives and garlic and olive oil.
I could sell you some cream, some bacon, some mushrooms, some shallots, some garlic, along with the pasta and a bit of cheese.
You could make your own creamy mushroom sauce.
Is it quite expensive? Cos it's all new stuff.
- We're doing the whole deal for 6.
50.
- Right.
For old times' sake, I might take a bottle of Chianti too.
Excellent.
Though the grocer's new products have sparked some interest, the Sharps' traditional services still seem to be winning the day.
But the Chamber of Commerce is in town and they have news that will change the high street forever.
As you know, up to now prices have been fixed.
Shops have had no choice about what they charge for their goods.
1964, largely result of pressure from the big supermarket owners, resale price maintenance was abolished.
This change in the law meant larger stores like Karl's could now set their own prices as they had the space to bulk buy.
It's good news for the Sergisons.
You could charge whatever you like for your goods.
You could cut prices.
And we're going to allow you to cut prices up to 20% across the range if you want to.
- How do you feel about that? - Over the moon.
I'm really quite chuffed about that.
That gives me the edge straightaway and I can really push that out there, get the loudhailer out and make sure the whole town knows.
And obviously we can just crush the opposition now.
They can't compete.
They might have a few loyal customers wealthy enough to pay higher prices, but in the long run I think everybody will just see sense and go, "Cheap is better.
Same product, 20% less, can't go wrong.
" Tom explains the impact to Andrew and Michael.
I'm afraid I've got some bad news to dish out to you, and that's in the middle of the era the resale price maintenance was abolished, and that meant that self-service shops with their lower overheads could slash their prices, and that's what the Sergisons are gonna do.
And people like you with shops like this wouldn't have been able to afford to.
You're gonna have to keep them the same, if not put them up.
Them Sergisons, they get bloody everything.
They get a conveyor belt, they get a telly in the flat, they get to drop their prices, they get more produce.
They get everything.
Karl wastes no time acting on the advantage that history has given him by advertising price cuts.
We've decided to discount the entire store, 20%.
- 20%? - Yes.
How about your competitor across the road? Poor Mr Sharp is not in the same financial position as myself.
He can't afford to do it.
He's delivering some food to me this afternoon.
I wonder if I can cancel.
Well, you possibly could.
I can supply you with goods 20% cheaper.
I think the fact that there is a sale here is very important.
This will make a big difference to the general store which will find it much more difficult to keep going.
If the general store can't compete with this grocer's, it will go.
And, as we know from experience, having lived here over 20 years, that's exactly what happened.
It gives competition a proper edge.
Before, we were just different shops with different names selling the food at the same price.
Now if you manage your products properly and sell them correctly, not only will you make a profit but you'll lure all the customers away from everybody else, especially the general store across the market place.
So I think the battle lines are drawn.
Now we just have to commence battle.
But Andrew and Michael aren't giving up without a fight, as in the 1960s their customers are used to home deliveries.
- You don't know where we're driving.
- I know.
For small shops, running a free delivery service was an added expense.
But in the face of competition, it was worth doing anything to keep customers on side.
At the milk bar the customers are getting even older.
We've got a lot of older people coming in.
That is absolutely great.
I think where we need to be, however, is the older teenagers.
We need to get out there and attract the teenage group that we're meant to be catering for.
The Devlins' potential clientele are on their doorstep, but they aren't showing any interest in the milk bar.
Nigel and the boys are on the hunt for teens, but they are as retro as their shop.
So how do you think we're going to do, then, Dad? Well, if you two don't get beaten up for being so square, I think we could do all right.
You see, my plan is to, you know, get the girls to follow us and then the boys should follow the girls.
Yeah.
First stop is the nearby skate park and Nigel takes it upon himself to lead the sales pitch.
We've re-created a '60s milk bar, but the only people that are coming in to see us are old people like me.
That's not what we want, because, at the time, milk bars were all for teenagers.
What we'd like you to do is come and see us.
It'll be an experience for you.
We've got a jukebox there.
It's a nice place to hang out, we think, even if you don't hang around.
Even if you just come in, have a look and have something to eat, that'll be great, all right? Even Nigel's teens aren't particularly impressed with his patter.
Dad's use of words when addressing kids our age is, yeah, it's, yeah, "Groovy".
He said the word "hip", which let it down a little bit, because his teenager language is a bit dated.
At the salon, however, everyone is happy to be stuck in the past.
Do you know, I am so thrilled with that.
It just looks so amazing.
In the 1960s, such elaborate hair styles necessitated a weekly trip to the salon and customers are finding there's more to this shop than just retro hair.
Shall I leave the bottle there? There's a lovely girly atmosphere in here.
Gill's providing the women of the town with a place to socialise.
It's been really, really fun, loads of fun.
Challenging, learning a new trade, but not as bad as I thought it would be.
I think we've done all right.
We've had loads of happy ladies walking around with their glamorous '60s hairstyles, so that's brilliant.
And they're not the only cuts going down well with the customers.
Lower prices mean the Sergisons are cashing in.
I was quite surprised.
I think it was less than £5.
So I can put that in my piggy bank and save for a rainy day.
Even the general store's most loyal customers are being tempted.
My full weekly shopping, I think now she's swayed me, it'll have to be in here with the price cuts.
If you'd bought this at the general store, it would've cost you about £4.
I don't like to give up the general store altogether but, on the whole, I think I shall be going to the self-service store.
Have you been over to the general store? No, it's closed, unfortunately.
- Hopefully you'll not go over there.
- They're closed, you're open.
- And I've got what I need, thank you.
- That's good.
We've probably done £100 from after lunch.
And the general store's closed.
They think they've got one up on us by offering this personal delivery service, but they've lost out because they could be taking money and they're not.
So we're raking it in, so silly boy, Sharpy.
Not only are the Sharps losing money and customers to the Sergisons, but deliveries are looking doubtful thanks to their 50-year-old delivery van.
We've got a bit of a technical difficulty.
It's boiling its head off.
Poor little thing.
There'll be no deliveries tonight, that's for sure.
Milk'll be off.
Some of the stuff'll need throwing out.
So not only do you pee off your customers, you throw product away, lose money, gotta get the van repaired.
Need I say more? It's been a long, frustrating day for Andrew, but '60s life is treating his rivals just fine.
- Chin, chin.
- Chin, chin.
God bless.
And thanks wonderfully.
Andrew and Michael are waking up to the fact that their business is barely viable.
As you can see, the enthusiasm is absolutely unbounded.
They know they have to make amends for yesterday's failed deliveries.
I'm just having to redo the stuff we had to throw away last night, which is great, isn't it? Not only did the van break down, but all the produce went off as well, so we're having to replace it.
Not only have they lost money, but they're in danger of losing customers.
Master Paine.
We're sorry about the delivery, but somebody killed the van.
We got halfway to the first customer and then "Bumpf!" Well, I've got no milk, I've got no bread.
- I've got all sorts that needs to - Right, OK.
- Marvellous.
- Eggs.
Toilet roll.
- And a little bit of compensation.
- Right, marvellous.
Thank you.
A few more Green Shield stamps to apologise for the breakdown.
- That's all right.
Thank you very much.
- Thank you, mate.
- Cheers.
- Say bye-bye.
I don't think we lost a customer there, to be honest.
Seemed happy enough.
As happy as someone who's been let down could be quite understanding.
Their one selling point, the good personal service and the deliveries, if they can't deliver on that, there's not a lot of point going in at all.
I could've just picked it all up from the grocer's and be done with it.
Jack and Raiff are determined to remedy the lack of teenagers at the milk bar, this time without their dad.
- Hello.
- Hey, guys.
We're doing an offer up at the milk bar.
We've got milk shakes, which are chocolate, strawberry, vanilla.
- Wow.
- All right, then.
Thank you.
- Can we come up now? - Yeah.
Me and Raiff, it took us ten seconds and they're already up there.
Loads of girls, put on the Devlin charm, straight up to the milk bar, get in.
Result.
I'll read you the flavours.
Vanilla, strawberry - One chilling wonder.
- I'm getting it.
- What can I get for you guys? - Strawberry milk shake, please.
Strawberry milk shake as well.
Devlin charm and cut-price milk shakes have finally enticed the first group of teen customers into the milk bar.
What one? Nigel and Caroline finally have the clientele that their shop was designed for.
Teenagers need somewhere to go, somewhere to feel comfortable, somewhere they can sit and talk and chat and listen to music.
But unfortunately nowadays there seems to be less and less places for them to go.
What was quite interesting is once they found out that this actually wasn't for all the people that had been coming in at the beginning of the week, that was what was so amazing.
You actually said to them, "It's for you guys.
" And they were like "What?" "No, it's for you.
" And the minute they were told it was for them, they all came.
- Awesome.
Best milk shake ever.
- Amazing.
I think they should have one all the time.
I think it should be there all the time.
They'd have my custom.
The only bad thing about this place is that it's just open for a week.
Wait, Saffron.
Goodness gracious.
With the business doing so well, half-day closing means the Sergisons aren't just shutting up shop, they're taking a holiday.
Wow.
This is lovely.
Grocer's is shut.
The grocers are going on holiday.
This is amazing.
Just like the upwardly mobile 1960s middle class, Karl's taking his family on the road.
Britain wanted to explore the great outdoors, and the craze for caravanning and camper vans allowed for a spot of camping with all the home comforts.
Not even a spot of rain dampens the Sergisons' spirits.
If it didn't rain, it wouldn't be camping.
We can afford to have a break because we've become the king of the high street now.
We're on the up and, as sad as it may seem, the general store's on the way down.
But that's business, that's life, and it looks like the self-service grocer's gonna win the day.
There you go.
You gotta be happy about it.
I'm a self-service grocer, so I've gotta be happy about it.
But back in Shepton, Andrew isn't giving up yet.
The Sergisons have an advantage over us, so we're gonna take that advantage away and beat them at their own game by taking our product to the customer.
Convenience store on your doorstep.
Even by the late '60s, only half of Britain owned a car and, as Andrew knows, they were notoriously unreliable, so customers still appreciated the door-to-door salesman.
- Good afternoon.
- Good afternoon.
Could we interest you in some various items? We have chocolate bars, 50p a bar.
- How about a mechanical tea strainer? - No, thanks.
Bakelite egg cups.
We have four candles or fork handles.
Depends how much Somerset you speak.
We have no heather and no curses.
- This is a brilliant scrubbing brush.
- You won't find that anywhere else.
Lovely salt and pepper pot.
Nice and stylish.
- How much is that going for? - How much is that going for? A fiver for the pair.
- It's all right.
Don't worry.
- I think they're £4.
That's dear.
But for you, because you're a special customer, they're £2.
That's £2 for that, please.
£2.
Door-to-door selling may have provided a decent living in the '60s, but in 2010 it's a lot of effort for very little gain.
- See you.
- Cheers.
Well, that won't pay the diesel, will it? If we did this regularly, I think you could potentially make a bit of a living, but it wouldn't be very easy.
Like now we've made about a tenner, just under a tenner, and that would barely pay for your petrol.
To add to their problems, they are having yet more car trouble.
Same crap, different day, I think that's called.
While Andrew's struggling, the Devlins' determination to engage Shepton's youth is paying off.
Nigel and Caroline are pushing out all the stops to make them feel welcome.
I think for everything we hear about teenagers today, put them in the right situation and they can enjoy themselves and have a good time with everyone else.
Yeah.
These kids are out there and they're good kids, really good kids.
For 90 years the Devlins have been at the heart of this community.
They may have lost their bakery, but they've succeeded in providing an essential service.
For a short time at least this town's teens have somewhere to go.
All along throughout the project, our real concern has been that we're only switching on certain parts of Shepton Mallet.
The fact is this week has been a huge, huge satisfaction for us, hasn't it, in terms of seeing what we've just seen.
Tomorrow is the last day of 1960s trading.
While the Sergisons are celebrating - To our camper-van experience.
- Cheers.
Rock on the '60s.
Andrew has had enough.
This is the worst way for a quality butcher to end up, selling a bit of manky cooked meat and Spam.
Maybe if it's all you knew, it might not be so bad, but having had a successful butchery and then been dumped into this, it's it's soul destroying.
It's the shopkeepers' final day on the '60s high street.
It's been an era of huge change.
Some shops have faltered and others have thrived.
In just one week Gill has gone from dressmaker to running a hairdresser, but she's yet to actually cut someone's hair.
I do feel less apprehensive now than I did to start with, but I'm still terrified that some poor soul's gonna come along and expect miracles from me, and I am after all only a dressmaker.
But one of the locals who has used Gill as a dressmaker in past eras is about to show how far customer loyalty can go.
I've opted for a very drastic change.
I'm gonna have my hair cut quite short.
Gill did such a good job with mending my coat, I think she'll do just as good a job with my hair.
- Are you sure? - Yeah.
- You definitely wanna do it? - Yeah, go on.
The quicker, the better, I'd say.
Oh, my God.
- There's no going back now.
- Well done.
There's your hair.
Wow.
There you go.
That's the major bit done.
Cool.
One, two, three.
Oh, my God.
That's really good.
Thanks very much.
I've gotta go and face my husband now.
- I'm gonna frighten him.
- He won't recognise you.
I really like it.
It is really drastic.
But Gill did really well to cut my hair.
It was scary, that was.
For a first haircut, to do something that severe.
But I think she looked really fantastic.
- So success, huh? - You did brilliantly.
I'm so proud.
What do you think? It's quite drastic, isn't it? - What do you think? - Your hair's amazing.
- What d'you think, Magnus? - Look at Mummy.
Do you still love me looking like this? Not everyone's impressed.
- What about you, Jacob? - I hate it.
Do you? I think I've scared him.
A bit too much of a drastic change.
While dressmaker Gill has managed to adapt to the 1960s, the Sharps have decided to call it a day.
Let's go down fighting, lad.
Let's get everything sold.
We're gonna try and leave nothing, nothing at all.
Michael is laying the blame for the loss of his trade on the grocers.
Well, the deal is we've been put out of business by the Sergisons and we're gonna have to close, so we're just gonna have to flog everything cheap.
Lovely place mats.
Frisbees for the kids.
Very useful.
Sold to the lady in the corner.
This butter dish we can throw in for a quid.
- Everything must go, even us.
- Everything must go, yeah, even us.
In the end it's the lowest prices that determine where customers shop.
I see you're buying lots of stuff here now, Mr Lake? Yes, economics is, with four children, I have to look at money more than anything else.
As you've seen today, the general store's closing down.
Yes, I know.
I'm not surprised.
Ever since they stopped selling the fresh meat, I've not been so inclined to go in there anyway.
Cos you've got everything over here and more and it's cheaper, and I can just take it when I want it.
- General store's closed down today.
- Very sad.
- It is awfully sad.
- It's good for business, is it? It's good for me, but it's not good for the general store.
- It's a shame.
- You've changed the whole community.
You are changing the whole community here and taking the whole heart out of it.
And now we have a dead high street and why you've been able to have so many empty shops is because of this.
I hope you can sleep at night, that's all I can say.
In the 21 st century Karl runs a small high street deli, so he's not unaffected by the Sharps' fate.
If it was the real '60s and I was a supermarket, I'd be over the moon, I've done what I set out to achieve, but personally, no, it's not right.
Not only have I made a good mate of him but he's he's gone.
It's a shame.
I'm a bit upset.
Yes.
It's very rare that I'm lost for words, but I am.
This town is about to lose another family of shopkeepers.
Whilst the milk bar's been a hit, the Devlins hearts just aren't in it any more.
Pick 'em up.
Come on.
This is not what we do.
This is This is fun, but this is not our life.
Our job is really done here.
We're bread makers.
That's what we do in life.
That's what we like doing.
The real disappointment to us is moving away from an essential provision like bread to something that's more superficial.
I loved your bread, I really did, and you worked so hard and I really appreciated it.
Really.
And it'll be sad to see you go.
- I haven't got a hope, have I? - I really will.
Oh, thank you, Michael, for all the happy hours we've had with you.
The best thing for me in the whole experience is the bond we've created with everybody.
People have said they're gonna miss us the most, which is really nice to hear.
So leaving them behind and leaving Shepton Mallet behind isn't gonna be nice at all.
You were voted my favourite shop.
Have one on me.
- Thank you very much.
- I'm gonna burst into tears.
The transition from Victorian to 2010 has been a sad journey that really we didn't necessarily need to take, and it really is a stark lesson and a realisation that we've lost such a lot.
We shall always remember you, always.
It's really sad.
It's been a wonderful experience.
We really do need a butcher on our high street, someone we know, someone we can trust, someone with whom you build up a relationship.
Just having had that has been lovely and it just teaches me, it shows me what I'm missing.
Bye-bye.
When people can't afford to stay in business, we lose them.
I think it's only after we've lost them, we realise what we've lost and then regret it.
Bye-bye, Caroline.
Bye-bye.
It has been a very, very emotional roller coaster for us.
Now that we've lived it, I have a real sense of how it must have been for the people whose lives were turned upside down.
With emotions running high, the Chamber of Commerce have arrived to assess the impact the 1960s high street has had on the town.
In this era, as the shopper, what have you gained and what have you lost? I've gained more choice and more convenience, but I have lost, well, some people that I've really got to know and care about.
I'm realising how shopping has changed.
Loyalty and feelings for people, you have to put them aside and it's all what you can get for the least amount of money.
All the customers I talked to have already started to feel the loss of the social centre that's been their high street over these last few weeks.
Everybody thinks it's the fault of the big business.
Nobody blames themselves, even though we're watching them turn their backs on Andrew and Michael and go towards the convenience store.
Nobody is saying, "I'm doing it.
My mum did it.
What can we do?" Everybody's looking for a scapegoat other than themselves.
It's been a bit of a bittersweet week for the bakers, hasn't it? Because they've not been able to bring any of their skills to bear, but they've had their busiest week yet.
Gill probably had the biggest challenge because her skill is as a dressmaker and we asked her to run a hairdresser's and a beautician's.
Nothing could have prepared me for the fact that I was gonna have a whole different career in a hairdressing salon, so, to be honest, if I came back and start being a car mechanic, I wouldn't be that surprised.
I never thought that Andrew and his boy Michael would be very happy in taking over a general store, but they made a pretty good fist of it, as well as anybody could.
Exactly.
Despite the range of stuff Andrew and Michael were selling, in the end it was price and convenience, and that's what mattered to people more than the loyalty.
We gave the Sergisons a self-service store and, just as in all other areas, it seemed a fantastic opportunity to make as much profit as possible and crush the competition.
I think Karl was actually upset that the success of his self-service store has actually brought about the decline and the exit of Andrew and Michael, who he's made friends with.
Well, it's the end of the 1960s.
Andrew, Michael, what we saw happen to your shop was exactly what was happening to the high street back then in the 1960s.
For me, you are the epitome of what we need back in our high streets, back in our shopping experience.
It really has touched us.
The depth of feeling that these customers have showed us is unbelievable.
If I had a hat on, I'd take it off to you and big bow of nothing but upmost respect.
Devlins, real success in your milk bar, but, of course, you're bakers and it's not baking, and that's obvious that that's really where your heart is.
This era, like every other era, you've just worked your socks off, and as a family unit it's quite incredible.
Families are absolutely essential in any operation to do with the high street.
I now appreciate how hard my parents actually work to make a living.
We're all closer now as a family, even more tightly knit than we were before.
With you goes the community spirit.
You've been the epitome of that spirit.
With you goes the heart of our high street.
Really sad to see you go.
Pleasure to have met you.
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, we've all gone, we've disappeared.
That must be catastrophic for the actual high street.
It must be catastrophic for local people as well.
We've had lots of people come and say, "We must support our local shops now.
" And that's what this is about.
It's got the locals of Shepton Mallet interested in their high street and in their local shops.
Bye, Mandy.
Taking part in this experiment has actually reinforced my views that it can be really fulfilling to be in a community of people, providing a service and a product that people really, really want.
See you later.
Its high street was once its heart and soul.
Not any more.
But what if we could turn back time to the days of the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker? A group of shopkeepers and their families have left the 21 st century behind.
You are going to discover what the high street was really like.
Your aim is to make this town fall in love with this high street again.
Sell, sell, sell.
Each week they're living and trading through a different era.
Can't get any more lift.
From Victorian to Edwardian.
Rabbits, pheasants.
Through peacetime and wartime.
The swinging '60s to the shocking '70s.
100 years of high street history.
It's absolutely magical.
Can they sell the products of the past to 21 st-century customers? Oh, the poor creatures.
I'd be frightened to give this to the birds.
Pimpin'.
And can they make a profit while they're at it? This is unbelievably hard.
I don't know how these poor buggers did this in the old days.
If I'm really being honest, I hate it! Tonight the shopkeepers enter the swinging '60s, where it's all change.
So I'm not a dressmaker any more.
What have you done? Where's my butcher gone? Why are we not bakers? Competition hits the high street.
The general store hasn't got the faintest chance of getting anywhere near us.
The Sergisons have got an advantage over us, so we're gonna take that advantage away.
The battle lines are drawn.
Now we just have to commence battle.
And history puts some out of business.
All of the old ways of thinking and working are gone forever.
But what will customers think? You are changing the whole community here and taking the whole heart out of it.
I hope you can sleep at night, that's all I can say.
For the Somerset town of Shepton Mallet, World War II has ended.
The shelves are just bare.
It's like walking into a closed shop.
- You're allowed one egg each.
- Oh, dear.
What are we gonna do? Now the shopkeepers are travelling forward in time to the early 1960s high street, where every shop has been totally transformed.
In 1960s Britain, the economy was booming.
Self-service and mass production meant cheaper food and more choice.
Britain had never had it so good.
There's gonna be a drastic change from the bleak rations of the Second World War.
Should have a lot more fun this era.
The '60s is all about the fashion, all about being brave with what you're wearing and making a statement.
Well, the '60s was a time of plenty, wasn't it? Youth, music and everything else, yeah.
We're looking forward to it.
Making sure that they stick to the rules of the era is the Chamber of Commerce, 5th-generation baker Tom Herbert, social historian Juliet Gardiner and successful greengrocer Gregg Wallace.
Welcome, everybody, to the 1960s, and I bet you're really pleased to leave the austerity of wartime behind.
Well, so was the whole of Great Britain.
The 1960s were a remarkable era of transition.
The British public embraced self-service shops.
But not everyone was happy with it.
So the challenge for you is going to be to find out what your customers really want and be able to respond to that.
You have to concentrate on a new consumer, the teenager, and your challenge really is to see whether you can tempt modern teenagers back to the high street.
And shops stopped being complimentary to each other.
Competition really kicked in.
You are gonna experience what small traders went through in a bid to just stay in business.
Please go and see your shops and good luck.
Last time, bakers the Devlins were feeding the town from a wartime restaurant, but their shop has totally transformed.
- Milk bar.
- We're a milk bar.
That's what we want.
The milk bar sold a new American dream to Britain's youth in the form of milk shakes, burgers and frothy coffees, all to a '60s soundtrack.
We can see some major diversification going on in the baker's.
They're now a milk bar.
We were expecting a surprise but we weren't expecting that sort of surprise.
- Oh, gosh.
- That is huge.
Of course, their challenge is to tempt modern teens in.
I think with their young lads, they've got a chance of doing that.
They might even make some money this era.
If we were out of our comfort zone during the last period, we're way, way outside our comfort zone now.
The '60s teenagers really loved these milk bars.
If you can bring that experience to the teenagers of today, they're gonna make a killing.
Milk shakes, music, that's a winner.
That's a winner.
Butcher Andrew Sharp and son Michael also have a surprise in store.
During the '60s, tens of thousands of butchers lost their jobs, as butchery moved out of shops and into processing plants.
But there was a way to stay in business.
General store? We've got a general store.
Are you having a laugh? The general store amalgamated hardware and food.
I don't think Andrew's gonna be very happy.
I mean, he's a real skilled butcher and all of his meat's taken away.
Oh, shovels.
Tea strainers.
Wallpaper.
- Is there anything we don't sell? - Yeah, meat.
We've gotta sell meat.
We're bloody butchers.
He's still gonna serve the needs of the high street.
So what you're saying is, people have loved the butcher, but now they're gonna go in and buy a watering can.
I can't see how an absolute expert in slaughtered beasts can all of a sudden become an expert on shovels.
To be honest, I don't have a clue about any of this stuff.
This is certainly not what I'm about, that's for sure.
Across the square - Wow.
- A supermarket.
Look at the colours.
The Sergison's family grocer has become partly self-service.
But what will Karl's customers make of it? They've enjoyed one-to-one personal service since the 1870s.
Blackcurrant, please.
If you'd like to take a seat, we'll have it all organised.
Thank you very much.
Won't it be a loss for this high street not to have the Sergisons so at the front of it? They've really been out on the high street pulling people in.
Now they're gonna be very much in the background.
- Do you think people will miss that? - It's going to divide people.
Some people are going to really like the convenience.
Other people are going to miss the personal service.
It'll be very interesting to see how it plays out.
Well, we're just gonna make an absolute killing, aren't we, babe? The shop is bigger, with a wide range of prepacked convenience foods.
We're gonna have bread, we're gonna have fruit and veg, so I reckon we're gonna clean up quite happily.
But the biggest change of all on the high street awaits dressmaker Gill.
That's a hairdressing salon.
Oh, my God.
My dressmaker's has gone.
Until now, Gill has sewed her way through three eras, from Edwardian to the 1940s.
But during the 1960s, cheap off-the-peg clothing meant that bespoke was out of fashion.
Completely, absolutely shocked.
So Gill will have to adapt to survive, and in the '60s, the hair and beauty industry was booming.
One of the reasons why hairdressing became so important was because fewer and fewer women were wearing hats.
After all, if you think, in the '50s, women never went out hardly without a hat.
By the '60s, young women weren't wearing hats at all, so hair became really important.
There are scissors here, which worries me.
I really don't think I should be cutting anybody's hair.
Gill's not actually a hairdresser and she now owns a beauty salon and hairdresser, so it's completely out of her comfort zone.
I feel very daunted by it, to be honest.
I don't want to upset anybody.
I know what girls are like about their hair.
There's gonna be a very steep learning curve involved in this era.
But she doesn't need to worry for long.
The Chamber of Commerce have sent Gill her first employee.
- Hi.
Are you Gill? - Yes.
Hello.
- Hi.
I'm Naomi.
- Hi.
I'm a hairdresser.
I'm here to help you this week.
I so need some help.
- Can you cut hair? - Yes.
- Hallelujah.
- I'm a hairdresser.
The shopkeepers have all been given manuals by the Chamber of Commerce, instructing them on how to run their 1960s businesses.
"The way you display your goods will be crucial.
They are silent salesmen and need to sell themselves to your customers.
" The first task for the Sergisons is to decide how to display their stock.
Have gaps in between them.
You're never gonna fill all these shelves.
- Well - There's no wells.
You'll have one shelf full of food and everything else empty.
The advent of self-service meant customers interacted with the product, not the shopkeeper.
Strategies to encourage customers to part with their cash quickly developed.
Eye-level shelving was for the bestsellers.
In '60s speak, that's the A-line.
The main row, the main A-line, is cereal.
- Yeah.
- All right.
So are you happy like that? No, we're just saying go up the whole lot layer.
Eye line is A-line, and that's my eye-line.
But it's not an A-line product.
- That's what we're saying.
- Oh.
This is meant to be our most important shelf and the whole thing is just cereal.
So why did you tell me once I'd put the whole shelf on? He tells me once I've filled the whole shelf with bloody cereal.
Stupid arse.
Do you reckon the Sergisons will have bread? Definitely.
For the first time on the high street, there is direct competition, as the grocers and the general store sell many identical items.
This will look a million times better than Mr Sharp's, because he's old hat.
He is old-fashioned.
So, no, we look clean, shiny and pristine.
He looks dour and old.
The Sharps are attempting an eye-catching display of their own.
No, but having that across there like that would look awesome.
Right, what can we do about signage? Neither of us can write.
"Fly in here for the best service in town.
" "Personal service.
" No, that's a bit crap, that.
We'll think about signage later.
We could empty this rubbish stuff out of this basket and we could have like, say, some jams in it or No.
No.
Let's have a - Or have a basket of eggs.
- You're gonna break 'em.
Let's do things that we're not gonna damage and lose money on.
Right.
OK, go and get that jam from round there.
- Yes, sir.
- And hurry up about it.
They haven't exactly got the competition running scared.
Have you seen their window display? It's absolutely crap.
Yeah, that's all right.
With the butcher and the grocer now selling bread, the bakers are taking delivery of milk.
- Hello.
- Hello.
How are you? Good Lord.
In past eras, they've provided the town with handmade bread.
Specialist machinery and a plethora of chemical improvers meant that bread could be made in a factory in just four hours, as opposed to 12 hours in a traditional baker's, putting 20,000 bakery staff out of work during the '60s.
- Why are we not bakers? - We're just a victim of change.
Don't you feel like you've sold your soul? - Because I do.
- Of course, of course.
Any expertise that you've had previously and any need the community have had for you has now gone.
We can try and adapt, as we're trying to do here, but the reality is we're at the vagaries of the marketplace.
Whatever people's choices are, we have to keep abreast of that or go under.
- No more bread.
- No more bread.
But we've got an alternative at the moment.
- At the moment.
- Yeah.
The Sharps are getting a delivery too.
- At least it's meat.
- Yeah, it's crap.
- It doesn't go in there.
- It does.
It doesn't.
If we take at least one of the doors off, anyway.
It looks like he's got some chilled meat now.
That's not the sort of meat he likes to sell.
It's prepacked crap.
So he won't have the same heart and love.
He might try and lie, but deep down I know he won't like selling it.
Whereas I'll sell anything for a buck.
Right, go on.
During their time on the high street, Andrew and son Michael have sold the town a giant Victorian pig, Edwardian game and wartime mutton.
But his 1960s stock is pre-prepped and already packed, which means the grocer can sell it too.
This is a natural progression from a butcher to actually being a corner shop.
It's commercial bacon, not dry-cured by us.
The ham, again, is cooked in a big factory.
So it's the start of the wonderful world of pink goo.
Welcome, one and all.
Over the eras the shopkeepers have built relationships with a group of customers who have pledged to shop only on the historic high street.
They've shopped through 90 years of history, but for the first time they face a dilemma.
We seem to have some competition, and although I get on with both shopkeepers, it will be interesting as to where I decide to shop, actually.
I'm wondering how that's gonna work out, so I'm looking forward to going in there and trying to get the lowest price I can get.
It's difficult because I've built up a friendship with both shops, so, I don't know, I think it would have to be down to economics, really.
But in the early '60s, it was manufacturers rather than shopkeepers who set the prices of goods.
Known as "resale price maintenance", it meant prices didn't vary much from shop to shop.
So customers will have to make their choices based on something other than price.
- Hello.
- Morning.
- How are you? - Good, thank you.
The Sergisons are offering a radical new way of shopping.
I've also got a leaflet of how to do self-service shopping.
Everything's all priced.
For a nation that had suffered the stranglehold shopkeepers had on customer choice during the war, self-service was a breath of fresh air.
It's nice to be able to pick stuff up and, you know, look at the back of a packet and put it back in your basket and take it out again.
Yeah, great.
But some found it baffling.
Oh, dear, dear.
So I go and collect my own stuff now, do I? Yeah.
See, I've got a flyer telling you how to do your own service.
I really don't know how I'm going to cope.
So I'm sure my grocer boy will help me.
But it is really sad, isn't it? There's no relationship whatsoever, is there? And this town has got used to good old-fashioned service.
- I have to take my shopping with me? - Yes.
- There's no delivery service any more.
- No delivery service.
- And no accounts any more.
- And no accounts either.
Bit of a shame about not having the delivery any more, and the kind of personal service that I had a few decades ago is missing as well now, so - Person across the road do deliveries? - I believe he does, yes.
That might put a different light on it.
It might do, yes.
We might nip across to your colleague over the road and see what he might offer.
Yeah.
He might not have all the wider range as we've got, but I'm sure he'll be able to help you.
- Back in a minute.
- OK.
Despite the Sergisons' confidence about their new-look store, it seems many customers don't want to move with the times.
We don't do deliveries, and that is a downside at the moment, I feel.
Morning, ladies.
Would you like to come in? Good morning.
How are you? You are as welcome here, girls, as you are at home.
- Lovely.
That's nice.
- That's nice of you to say that.
Andrew and Michael are keen to highlight the services they have on offer.
We've got a van.
We can deliver.
Delivery's free so long as you pay us.
- Nothing on tick? - No, you can have tick here.
Unlike the Sergisons, you can have credit.
We've got the Green Shield stamps as well.
Two stamps for a shilling.
Green Shield stamps were the 1960s version of the loyalty card.
At the end of the week, the customer with the most stamps gets to pick a prize from the cabinet.
Do I have to join anything? No, you just have that book and that book's money.
Oh, yes, please.
I'll have a book.
So if you buy lots off us, you get a prize.
Well, what can I start with? Some marmalade.
Could I have a jar of marmalade, please? Absolutely.
There's a nice atmosphere.
You still feel like it's family owned.
They're behind the counter together and they're giving you that service.
It's a nice service to have.
In the grocer's shop they're lovely, but I prefer Mr Sharp and his son.
They're so helpful, they're cheerful, they're happy, and that goes a long way with the customer.
At the Devlins' shop, customers who've bought their bread since the 1870s are coming to terms with the loss of the high street bakers.
What happened to the bakery? I came in to get some bread.
If you go to the grocers, what you'll find is they're stocking what, I think, 70-odd per cent of the people were eating, which is the white sliced, mass-produced loaf.
There's another service bites the dust.
They've actually stopped making bread, so now I'm stuck with two shops with white bread.
It looks pretty tasteless, actually, so I'm going to miss that.
The core customers are genuinely wanting bread, and the business that actually was so essential in previous eras and people had come to rely on has gone.
And it's the start of the slippery slope.
Whilst some are lamenting the passing of old trades, Gill's having to get to grips with a whole new one.
Before she starts trading, the Chamber of Commerce have sent her and Naomi to a specialist '60s hair salon in London for expert tuition.
I'm gonna show you today how to recreate three fabulous styles.
We're gonna have the flip, the bouffant and the beehive.
- Fantastic.
- Let's go.
Now, we're gonna do the flip.
In the 1960s what was important was the volume on the top of the hair.
Hairspray.
A hairstyle like the flip became very popular because of the singer Lula in the early '60s.
Just brush it around your hand, yeah.
That's good.
- That OK? - Very nice.
Oh, that's looking great.
It's so recognisable, isn't it? It's such an iconic style.
Next up for Gill and Naomi, it's a '60s staple, the bouffant.
That is some quiff.
People were inspired by singers or actresses, so the bouffant that we're creating here is very Brigitte Bardot.
Fantastic.
So now we're gonna do the beehive, the most iconic hairstyle of the 1960s.
So we're gonna backcomb all of this.
It has to be quite big.
In the '60s it was all about the bigger, the better.
It still is, darling.
Take all the hair together and really twist it.
Voilà .
That is the beehive.
It looks fantastic.
Having all the professional tips and just little tricks of the trade that we've learned today has made me feel an awful lot more confident that I can carry this off tomorrow when we've got real customers coming into the salon.
Back in Shepton, the Devlins seem busy enough, even if they're not making bread.
Your chips are being cooked.
They shouldn't be long.
My wife's sandwich is a little bit burnt, I think.
Have to see the head chef about that, I'm afraid.
One vanilla.
Milk shake.
Is that right? Oh, you've had one? We just spent 20 minutes doing two orders that didn't exist.
You didn't write down which table it was.
- Jack, shut up, for the last time.
- Jesus Christ.
- I'm helping Mum.
- Well, don't.
Shut up now before I go mad.
I think they've gone to Brazil to get our coffee.
It's what's commonly known in the trade as a baptism of fire.
Despite the teething problems, the customers seem to be liking it.
We used to come into milk bars like this and have a really good time.
It's absolutely marvellous.
We're really enjoying it.
But this lot are 40 years too old.
In the '60s, most teens were working and earning around £150 a week in today's money.
70% of that was disposable income, so it's no surprise the high street provided them with somewhere to go.
Today it's a very different story.
There's never anything to do in Shepton.
- Walk around.
- Go to the park or, like, Tesco's.
Skate park.
People get drunk.
There's nothing else to do.
I just come down here about one and then stay here until ten.
But the milk bar closes with its potential customers unaware that it's a place for them.
It's the end of the first day of trading, and adapting to change continues above the shops.
It's horrible.
Formica.
I've got a bar.
Isn't that lovely? Wouldn't you just want that in your own living room? What's happened on the high street has come as quite a shock to me.
You can see the change more so now than any era we've done so far, and I think it already spells the end for some.
It's quite worrying.
I feel quite nervous about this week.
I am completely out of my comfort zone.
For Gill, it's time to put her skills into practice.
In a world where a woman's place was still mainly in the home, salons were a good bet for those who wanted their own business.
What modern customers will make of it remains to be seen.
And what hairstyle would you like today? Sort of pixie sort of fluffy cut.
Gill embraces management mode.
While Naomi deals with cuts, she'll do styling.
OK.
What sort of thing were you after today? - A beehive.
- A beehive.
A beehive.
Fantastic.
Take a seat.
I'm gonna look really glamorous going to work this afternoon now.
You're going to work this afternoon with a beehive? - Yes.
- Amazing.
Brilliant.
It seems that the nostalgia pull is working wonders for at least two of Shepton's ladies.
I'll show you the back, madam.
I want it to keep like this forever.
It's really nice.
It's really good.
- Well done.
- Thank you.
I've been feeling down lately, and to go in there and have this done, it's lifted my spirits right up.
I feel brilliant.
It's just They've changed me completely.
We've just made ten quid in tips.
We've only had two customers.
That's amazing.
Well done, girl.
We're the next big thing.
The milk bar has attracted another set of customers who want to relive their youth, a group of mods.
By 1960, national service had been abolished and young men found new ways to forge allegiances by joining gangs.
Look at this.
Love it.
Absolutely love it.
I'm just gobsmacked.
It's really authentic, isn't it? It's fantastic.
It's exactly as I remember it, and I love the hairstyle.
Do you really? We were 17-year-old boys.
That's how our mums looked.
Except I think yours had a moustache, didn't she? It's another reminder that the milk bar's customers have seen better days.
You're not allowed to smoke in there, are you? You used to be in the '60s.
Get in there and you had no crash helmet, had the cigarette.
Life was a little bit better, I think.
Over at the general store they're doing a roaring trade, with Michael pulling out all the stops.
Are you looking for a prize out of our cabinet? I am.
I think you might need to buy a little bit more for that.
You're trying your darnedest to make me spend all my money in here, aren't you? If you want a prize, you've gotta pay the price.
I want the radio.
If you buy lots off us, you can have it.
I wish I'd known.
I've just done a week's shopping in the other shop.
I think they do refunds.
And customers are making the most of their delivery service.
What's the charge for delivery? - It's free.
- It's free? Do you want that now and the other things delivered or do you want it all delivered together? Delivery would be nice as you do it for free.
Would you like it now or delivered? I'll have that one delivered.
Special present.
- Thank you so much.
- Lovely.
Bye.
Bye! At the grocer's, Karl's got a new idea to try and win over the customers.
Wow.
We've got pasta.
I wonder if I could interest you in my new continental range.
- Oh, right.
- It's exciting, exotic.
Some of these things you might have seen in the movies.
Pasta and olives and garlic and olive oil.
I could sell you some cream, some bacon, some mushrooms, some shallots, some garlic, along with the pasta and a bit of cheese.
You could make your own creamy mushroom sauce.
Is it quite expensive? Cos it's all new stuff.
- We're doing the whole deal for 6.
50.
- Right.
For old times' sake, I might take a bottle of Chianti too.
Excellent.
Though the grocer's new products have sparked some interest, the Sharps' traditional services still seem to be winning the day.
But the Chamber of Commerce is in town and they have news that will change the high street forever.
As you know, up to now prices have been fixed.
Shops have had no choice about what they charge for their goods.
1964, largely result of pressure from the big supermarket owners, resale price maintenance was abolished.
This change in the law meant larger stores like Karl's could now set their own prices as they had the space to bulk buy.
It's good news for the Sergisons.
You could charge whatever you like for your goods.
You could cut prices.
And we're going to allow you to cut prices up to 20% across the range if you want to.
- How do you feel about that? - Over the moon.
I'm really quite chuffed about that.
That gives me the edge straightaway and I can really push that out there, get the loudhailer out and make sure the whole town knows.
And obviously we can just crush the opposition now.
They can't compete.
They might have a few loyal customers wealthy enough to pay higher prices, but in the long run I think everybody will just see sense and go, "Cheap is better.
Same product, 20% less, can't go wrong.
" Tom explains the impact to Andrew and Michael.
I'm afraid I've got some bad news to dish out to you, and that's in the middle of the era the resale price maintenance was abolished, and that meant that self-service shops with their lower overheads could slash their prices, and that's what the Sergisons are gonna do.
And people like you with shops like this wouldn't have been able to afford to.
You're gonna have to keep them the same, if not put them up.
Them Sergisons, they get bloody everything.
They get a conveyor belt, they get a telly in the flat, they get to drop their prices, they get more produce.
They get everything.
Karl wastes no time acting on the advantage that history has given him by advertising price cuts.
We've decided to discount the entire store, 20%.
- 20%? - Yes.
How about your competitor across the road? Poor Mr Sharp is not in the same financial position as myself.
He can't afford to do it.
He's delivering some food to me this afternoon.
I wonder if I can cancel.
Well, you possibly could.
I can supply you with goods 20% cheaper.
I think the fact that there is a sale here is very important.
This will make a big difference to the general store which will find it much more difficult to keep going.
If the general store can't compete with this grocer's, it will go.
And, as we know from experience, having lived here over 20 years, that's exactly what happened.
It gives competition a proper edge.
Before, we were just different shops with different names selling the food at the same price.
Now if you manage your products properly and sell them correctly, not only will you make a profit but you'll lure all the customers away from everybody else, especially the general store across the market place.
So I think the battle lines are drawn.
Now we just have to commence battle.
But Andrew and Michael aren't giving up without a fight, as in the 1960s their customers are used to home deliveries.
- You don't know where we're driving.
- I know.
For small shops, running a free delivery service was an added expense.
But in the face of competition, it was worth doing anything to keep customers on side.
At the milk bar the customers are getting even older.
We've got a lot of older people coming in.
That is absolutely great.
I think where we need to be, however, is the older teenagers.
We need to get out there and attract the teenage group that we're meant to be catering for.
The Devlins' potential clientele are on their doorstep, but they aren't showing any interest in the milk bar.
Nigel and the boys are on the hunt for teens, but they are as retro as their shop.
So how do you think we're going to do, then, Dad? Well, if you two don't get beaten up for being so square, I think we could do all right.
You see, my plan is to, you know, get the girls to follow us and then the boys should follow the girls.
Yeah.
First stop is the nearby skate park and Nigel takes it upon himself to lead the sales pitch.
We've re-created a '60s milk bar, but the only people that are coming in to see us are old people like me.
That's not what we want, because, at the time, milk bars were all for teenagers.
What we'd like you to do is come and see us.
It'll be an experience for you.
We've got a jukebox there.
It's a nice place to hang out, we think, even if you don't hang around.
Even if you just come in, have a look and have something to eat, that'll be great, all right? Even Nigel's teens aren't particularly impressed with his patter.
Dad's use of words when addressing kids our age is, yeah, it's, yeah, "Groovy".
He said the word "hip", which let it down a little bit, because his teenager language is a bit dated.
At the salon, however, everyone is happy to be stuck in the past.
Do you know, I am so thrilled with that.
It just looks so amazing.
In the 1960s, such elaborate hair styles necessitated a weekly trip to the salon and customers are finding there's more to this shop than just retro hair.
Shall I leave the bottle there? There's a lovely girly atmosphere in here.
Gill's providing the women of the town with a place to socialise.
It's been really, really fun, loads of fun.
Challenging, learning a new trade, but not as bad as I thought it would be.
I think we've done all right.
We've had loads of happy ladies walking around with their glamorous '60s hairstyles, so that's brilliant.
And they're not the only cuts going down well with the customers.
Lower prices mean the Sergisons are cashing in.
I was quite surprised.
I think it was less than £5.
So I can put that in my piggy bank and save for a rainy day.
Even the general store's most loyal customers are being tempted.
My full weekly shopping, I think now she's swayed me, it'll have to be in here with the price cuts.
If you'd bought this at the general store, it would've cost you about £4.
I don't like to give up the general store altogether but, on the whole, I think I shall be going to the self-service store.
Have you been over to the general store? No, it's closed, unfortunately.
- Hopefully you'll not go over there.
- They're closed, you're open.
- And I've got what I need, thank you.
- That's good.
We've probably done £100 from after lunch.
And the general store's closed.
They think they've got one up on us by offering this personal delivery service, but they've lost out because they could be taking money and they're not.
So we're raking it in, so silly boy, Sharpy.
Not only are the Sharps losing money and customers to the Sergisons, but deliveries are looking doubtful thanks to their 50-year-old delivery van.
We've got a bit of a technical difficulty.
It's boiling its head off.
Poor little thing.
There'll be no deliveries tonight, that's for sure.
Milk'll be off.
Some of the stuff'll need throwing out.
So not only do you pee off your customers, you throw product away, lose money, gotta get the van repaired.
Need I say more? It's been a long, frustrating day for Andrew, but '60s life is treating his rivals just fine.
- Chin, chin.
- Chin, chin.
God bless.
And thanks wonderfully.
Andrew and Michael are waking up to the fact that their business is barely viable.
As you can see, the enthusiasm is absolutely unbounded.
They know they have to make amends for yesterday's failed deliveries.
I'm just having to redo the stuff we had to throw away last night, which is great, isn't it? Not only did the van break down, but all the produce went off as well, so we're having to replace it.
Not only have they lost money, but they're in danger of losing customers.
Master Paine.
We're sorry about the delivery, but somebody killed the van.
We got halfway to the first customer and then "Bumpf!" Well, I've got no milk, I've got no bread.
- I've got all sorts that needs to - Right, OK.
- Marvellous.
- Eggs.
Toilet roll.
- And a little bit of compensation.
- Right, marvellous.
Thank you.
A few more Green Shield stamps to apologise for the breakdown.
- That's all right.
Thank you very much.
- Thank you, mate.
- Cheers.
- Say bye-bye.
I don't think we lost a customer there, to be honest.
Seemed happy enough.
As happy as someone who's been let down could be quite understanding.
Their one selling point, the good personal service and the deliveries, if they can't deliver on that, there's not a lot of point going in at all.
I could've just picked it all up from the grocer's and be done with it.
Jack and Raiff are determined to remedy the lack of teenagers at the milk bar, this time without their dad.
- Hello.
- Hey, guys.
We're doing an offer up at the milk bar.
We've got milk shakes, which are chocolate, strawberry, vanilla.
- Wow.
- All right, then.
Thank you.
- Can we come up now? - Yeah.
Me and Raiff, it took us ten seconds and they're already up there.
Loads of girls, put on the Devlin charm, straight up to the milk bar, get in.
Result.
I'll read you the flavours.
Vanilla, strawberry - One chilling wonder.
- I'm getting it.
- What can I get for you guys? - Strawberry milk shake, please.
Strawberry milk shake as well.
Devlin charm and cut-price milk shakes have finally enticed the first group of teen customers into the milk bar.
What one? Nigel and Caroline finally have the clientele that their shop was designed for.
Teenagers need somewhere to go, somewhere to feel comfortable, somewhere they can sit and talk and chat and listen to music.
But unfortunately nowadays there seems to be less and less places for them to go.
What was quite interesting is once they found out that this actually wasn't for all the people that had been coming in at the beginning of the week, that was what was so amazing.
You actually said to them, "It's for you guys.
" And they were like "What?" "No, it's for you.
" And the minute they were told it was for them, they all came.
- Awesome.
Best milk shake ever.
- Amazing.
I think they should have one all the time.
I think it should be there all the time.
They'd have my custom.
The only bad thing about this place is that it's just open for a week.
Wait, Saffron.
Goodness gracious.
With the business doing so well, half-day closing means the Sergisons aren't just shutting up shop, they're taking a holiday.
Wow.
This is lovely.
Grocer's is shut.
The grocers are going on holiday.
This is amazing.
Just like the upwardly mobile 1960s middle class, Karl's taking his family on the road.
Britain wanted to explore the great outdoors, and the craze for caravanning and camper vans allowed for a spot of camping with all the home comforts.
Not even a spot of rain dampens the Sergisons' spirits.
If it didn't rain, it wouldn't be camping.
We can afford to have a break because we've become the king of the high street now.
We're on the up and, as sad as it may seem, the general store's on the way down.
But that's business, that's life, and it looks like the self-service grocer's gonna win the day.
There you go.
You gotta be happy about it.
I'm a self-service grocer, so I've gotta be happy about it.
But back in Shepton, Andrew isn't giving up yet.
The Sergisons have an advantage over us, so we're gonna take that advantage away and beat them at their own game by taking our product to the customer.
Convenience store on your doorstep.
Even by the late '60s, only half of Britain owned a car and, as Andrew knows, they were notoriously unreliable, so customers still appreciated the door-to-door salesman.
- Good afternoon.
- Good afternoon.
Could we interest you in some various items? We have chocolate bars, 50p a bar.
- How about a mechanical tea strainer? - No, thanks.
Bakelite egg cups.
We have four candles or fork handles.
Depends how much Somerset you speak.
We have no heather and no curses.
- This is a brilliant scrubbing brush.
- You won't find that anywhere else.
Lovely salt and pepper pot.
Nice and stylish.
- How much is that going for? - How much is that going for? A fiver for the pair.
- It's all right.
Don't worry.
- I think they're £4.
That's dear.
But for you, because you're a special customer, they're £2.
That's £2 for that, please.
£2.
Door-to-door selling may have provided a decent living in the '60s, but in 2010 it's a lot of effort for very little gain.
- See you.
- Cheers.
Well, that won't pay the diesel, will it? If we did this regularly, I think you could potentially make a bit of a living, but it wouldn't be very easy.
Like now we've made about a tenner, just under a tenner, and that would barely pay for your petrol.
To add to their problems, they are having yet more car trouble.
Same crap, different day, I think that's called.
While Andrew's struggling, the Devlins' determination to engage Shepton's youth is paying off.
Nigel and Caroline are pushing out all the stops to make them feel welcome.
I think for everything we hear about teenagers today, put them in the right situation and they can enjoy themselves and have a good time with everyone else.
Yeah.
These kids are out there and they're good kids, really good kids.
For 90 years the Devlins have been at the heart of this community.
They may have lost their bakery, but they've succeeded in providing an essential service.
For a short time at least this town's teens have somewhere to go.
All along throughout the project, our real concern has been that we're only switching on certain parts of Shepton Mallet.
The fact is this week has been a huge, huge satisfaction for us, hasn't it, in terms of seeing what we've just seen.
Tomorrow is the last day of 1960s trading.
While the Sergisons are celebrating - To our camper-van experience.
- Cheers.
Rock on the '60s.
Andrew has had enough.
This is the worst way for a quality butcher to end up, selling a bit of manky cooked meat and Spam.
Maybe if it's all you knew, it might not be so bad, but having had a successful butchery and then been dumped into this, it's it's soul destroying.
It's the shopkeepers' final day on the '60s high street.
It's been an era of huge change.
Some shops have faltered and others have thrived.
In just one week Gill has gone from dressmaker to running a hairdresser, but she's yet to actually cut someone's hair.
I do feel less apprehensive now than I did to start with, but I'm still terrified that some poor soul's gonna come along and expect miracles from me, and I am after all only a dressmaker.
But one of the locals who has used Gill as a dressmaker in past eras is about to show how far customer loyalty can go.
I've opted for a very drastic change.
I'm gonna have my hair cut quite short.
Gill did such a good job with mending my coat, I think she'll do just as good a job with my hair.
- Are you sure? - Yeah.
- You definitely wanna do it? - Yeah, go on.
The quicker, the better, I'd say.
Oh, my God.
- There's no going back now.
- Well done.
There's your hair.
Wow.
There you go.
That's the major bit done.
Cool.
One, two, three.
Oh, my God.
That's really good.
Thanks very much.
I've gotta go and face my husband now.
- I'm gonna frighten him.
- He won't recognise you.
I really like it.
It is really drastic.
But Gill did really well to cut my hair.
It was scary, that was.
For a first haircut, to do something that severe.
But I think she looked really fantastic.
- So success, huh? - You did brilliantly.
I'm so proud.
What do you think? It's quite drastic, isn't it? - What do you think? - Your hair's amazing.
- What d'you think, Magnus? - Look at Mummy.
Do you still love me looking like this? Not everyone's impressed.
- What about you, Jacob? - I hate it.
Do you? I think I've scared him.
A bit too much of a drastic change.
While dressmaker Gill has managed to adapt to the 1960s, the Sharps have decided to call it a day.
Let's go down fighting, lad.
Let's get everything sold.
We're gonna try and leave nothing, nothing at all.
Michael is laying the blame for the loss of his trade on the grocers.
Well, the deal is we've been put out of business by the Sergisons and we're gonna have to close, so we're just gonna have to flog everything cheap.
Lovely place mats.
Frisbees for the kids.
Very useful.
Sold to the lady in the corner.
This butter dish we can throw in for a quid.
- Everything must go, even us.
- Everything must go, yeah, even us.
In the end it's the lowest prices that determine where customers shop.
I see you're buying lots of stuff here now, Mr Lake? Yes, economics is, with four children, I have to look at money more than anything else.
As you've seen today, the general store's closing down.
Yes, I know.
I'm not surprised.
Ever since they stopped selling the fresh meat, I've not been so inclined to go in there anyway.
Cos you've got everything over here and more and it's cheaper, and I can just take it when I want it.
- General store's closed down today.
- Very sad.
- It is awfully sad.
- It's good for business, is it? It's good for me, but it's not good for the general store.
- It's a shame.
- You've changed the whole community.
You are changing the whole community here and taking the whole heart out of it.
And now we have a dead high street and why you've been able to have so many empty shops is because of this.
I hope you can sleep at night, that's all I can say.
In the 21 st century Karl runs a small high street deli, so he's not unaffected by the Sharps' fate.
If it was the real '60s and I was a supermarket, I'd be over the moon, I've done what I set out to achieve, but personally, no, it's not right.
Not only have I made a good mate of him but he's he's gone.
It's a shame.
I'm a bit upset.
Yes.
It's very rare that I'm lost for words, but I am.
This town is about to lose another family of shopkeepers.
Whilst the milk bar's been a hit, the Devlins hearts just aren't in it any more.
Pick 'em up.
Come on.
This is not what we do.
This is This is fun, but this is not our life.
Our job is really done here.
We're bread makers.
That's what we do in life.
That's what we like doing.
The real disappointment to us is moving away from an essential provision like bread to something that's more superficial.
I loved your bread, I really did, and you worked so hard and I really appreciated it.
Really.
And it'll be sad to see you go.
- I haven't got a hope, have I? - I really will.
Oh, thank you, Michael, for all the happy hours we've had with you.
The best thing for me in the whole experience is the bond we've created with everybody.
People have said they're gonna miss us the most, which is really nice to hear.
So leaving them behind and leaving Shepton Mallet behind isn't gonna be nice at all.
You were voted my favourite shop.
Have one on me.
- Thank you very much.
- I'm gonna burst into tears.
The transition from Victorian to 2010 has been a sad journey that really we didn't necessarily need to take, and it really is a stark lesson and a realisation that we've lost such a lot.
We shall always remember you, always.
It's really sad.
It's been a wonderful experience.
We really do need a butcher on our high street, someone we know, someone we can trust, someone with whom you build up a relationship.
Just having had that has been lovely and it just teaches me, it shows me what I'm missing.
Bye-bye.
When people can't afford to stay in business, we lose them.
I think it's only after we've lost them, we realise what we've lost and then regret it.
Bye-bye, Caroline.
Bye-bye.
It has been a very, very emotional roller coaster for us.
Now that we've lived it, I have a real sense of how it must have been for the people whose lives were turned upside down.
With emotions running high, the Chamber of Commerce have arrived to assess the impact the 1960s high street has had on the town.
In this era, as the shopper, what have you gained and what have you lost? I've gained more choice and more convenience, but I have lost, well, some people that I've really got to know and care about.
I'm realising how shopping has changed.
Loyalty and feelings for people, you have to put them aside and it's all what you can get for the least amount of money.
All the customers I talked to have already started to feel the loss of the social centre that's been their high street over these last few weeks.
Everybody thinks it's the fault of the big business.
Nobody blames themselves, even though we're watching them turn their backs on Andrew and Michael and go towards the convenience store.
Nobody is saying, "I'm doing it.
My mum did it.
What can we do?" Everybody's looking for a scapegoat other than themselves.
It's been a bit of a bittersweet week for the bakers, hasn't it? Because they've not been able to bring any of their skills to bear, but they've had their busiest week yet.
Gill probably had the biggest challenge because her skill is as a dressmaker and we asked her to run a hairdresser's and a beautician's.
Nothing could have prepared me for the fact that I was gonna have a whole different career in a hairdressing salon, so, to be honest, if I came back and start being a car mechanic, I wouldn't be that surprised.
I never thought that Andrew and his boy Michael would be very happy in taking over a general store, but they made a pretty good fist of it, as well as anybody could.
Exactly.
Despite the range of stuff Andrew and Michael were selling, in the end it was price and convenience, and that's what mattered to people more than the loyalty.
We gave the Sergisons a self-service store and, just as in all other areas, it seemed a fantastic opportunity to make as much profit as possible and crush the competition.
I think Karl was actually upset that the success of his self-service store has actually brought about the decline and the exit of Andrew and Michael, who he's made friends with.
Well, it's the end of the 1960s.
Andrew, Michael, what we saw happen to your shop was exactly what was happening to the high street back then in the 1960s.
For me, you are the epitome of what we need back in our high streets, back in our shopping experience.
It really has touched us.
The depth of feeling that these customers have showed us is unbelievable.
If I had a hat on, I'd take it off to you and big bow of nothing but upmost respect.
Devlins, real success in your milk bar, but, of course, you're bakers and it's not baking, and that's obvious that that's really where your heart is.
This era, like every other era, you've just worked your socks off, and as a family unit it's quite incredible.
Families are absolutely essential in any operation to do with the high street.
I now appreciate how hard my parents actually work to make a living.
We're all closer now as a family, even more tightly knit than we were before.
With you goes the community spirit.
You've been the epitome of that spirit.
With you goes the heart of our high street.
Really sad to see you go.
Pleasure to have met you.
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, we've all gone, we've disappeared.
That must be catastrophic for the actual high street.
It must be catastrophic for local people as well.
We've had lots of people come and say, "We must support our local shops now.
" And that's what this is about.
It's got the locals of Shepton Mallet interested in their high street and in their local shops.
Bye, Mandy.
Taking part in this experiment has actually reinforced my views that it can be really fulfilling to be in a community of people, providing a service and a product that people really, really want.
See you later.