In 1982 the Society was merged with the South Midlands Co-op and during the next 10 years all the shops and businesses formally owned by the Burton Latimer Co-op were closed or sold. The main Central High Street Store was closed on the 1st March 1989 and demolished in 1990.The staff and non food business on a smaller scale was transferred across the road to a much smaller shop 34 High Street, which opened on 2nd March 1989.it did not last very long and closed on 5thJanuary 1991. Not long afterwards came the closure of the Society’s last shop, the grocery and butchery at 116 High Street.
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Opening the re-located Co-op store in 1989. Left to right:
Margaret Marshall, Debbie Kelly, Heather Smith, Stephen
Bryce, Mary Lyon, Barbara Marriott, Rita Edwards, Ray
Boucher,South Midlands Co-op and Carol Bewers,manageress.
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In conclusion, from its beginnings in the 19th century, Burton Latimer Co-operative and Industrial Society gradually increased its business in the 20th century especially the rapid expansion from the mid 1950s to the end of the ‘60s when it dominated all areas of retailing in the town. Then, in the 1980s, it suffered an equally rapid decline until now, at the beginning of the 21st century, there is no trace that it had ever existed. Over one hundred years of retail history gone for ever!
There is little doubt that the main cause of the decline along with thousands of small traders was the increasing domination of the major supermarkets, out of town shopping centres and motorcar ownership.
A final word about the fate of all its properties and their status in 2006.
The High Street Central Stores, the grocery and butchery at 116 High Street and Broughton Motors have been demolished and replaced with residential housing. The wet fish/greengrocery building is an estate agent’s office and the Pioneer Avenue corner butchery is a take-away. In Duke Street, the original grocery, furnishing and office have been converted to residential flats and the butchers, bakery and abattoir are used by small businesses. The site of car showroom and filling station is now occupied by a Budgens Supermarket and second-hand car business. The Chemists is a Lloyds Pharmacy. Of the two shops in Barton Seagrave, one is a small Budgens Supermarket and the other is a Children’s Day Nursery.
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