Classic menswear shop front in Greater Manchester that's not what it seems
29.05.2024 - 06:11
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A classic menswear shopfront on a busy Greater Manchester high street houses an altogether different business inside.
With mannequins and sharp suits in the window, Merricks on Rochdale Road, Oldham, looks every inch a fine menswear tailors and outfitters. And that's exactly what it was for many years.
But the menswear shop that had been a fixture of the high street for decades has since been turned into a bar. Merricks is now an extension of the The Barclay Pizza & Prosecco in Royton.
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Emma Whelan, 43, owns the business alongside her husband Michael, and her childhood friend, Gillian, and husband Carl. They opened the main bar in the old Barclays bank building in December 2018 after an extensive renovation.
For the last few years the premises had been used as a shop, but the budding bar owners wanted to bring back the bank building back to its former glory. Emma told the Manchester Evening News: "When we got hold of the building it was a wreck. It had been taken over by Cash Convertors.
"They had created a shop within a building which kind of wrecked the ceiling." The new owners stripped out the false ceiling and completely restored the original high ceiling and fittings.
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The new bar proved to be a success, and in the last few years the old Merricks Menswear store next door became available following the death of its owner. Emma explained how Merricks had become a fixture in Royton.
"We all had a friend called Tony Spence and he owned the