John ready to clean up after a tough 18 months

Photo: ANTHONY MILLER

JOHN WOOD: “I know that isn’t the case for everyone around here, but I am seeing an increase in trade, that’s for sure.”

Oldham Works: the Chronicel’s major boost for Oldham and its people

AN Oldham dry-cleaning business business can trace its roots to the early years of the 20th century when the founder used to collect blankets on a handcart.

These days Smarty’s Dry-Cleaners is a totally different concept which, after a rough 18 months, is getting back to acceptable trading levels.

John Wood has come through some harrowing experiences, including three illnesses and an 18-month hiatus while Tesco constructed its new superstore opposite his Greenacres District Centre premises.

Now the 62-year-old, from Lydgate, can see a time when the business will be back on its feet, thanks to the extra prominence given to his services by the numbers of people visiting the Huddersfield Road superstore.

He said: “Things have been tough, no question, but I have some loyal customers who have stayed with me during the building works and helped me stay in business. Now with the increasing numbers of people visiting the new store, I am definitely seeing the benefits and trade is picking up. I know that isn’t the case for everyone around here, but I am seeing an increase in trade, that’s for sure.” Mr Wood has been in his premises since 1981, one of the first to take a unit in the district centre when the store opposite was Hillards.

He had relocated the business from Stockport Road, Lydgate, where his father, Oliver, started a laundry in 1907.

At that time Oliver was a 21-year-old mill manager who saw a gap in the market for cleaning blankets. He would collect these on a handcart from all around Saddleworth, clean and return to goods to the customers.

That business, Lydgate Laundry, was continued by John’s father, Ronald, although vans replaced handcarts, with the collection and delivery service for all types of laundry in place for 74 years.

In 1959 the business installed its first dry-cleaning systems as Lydgate Laundry diversified.

John Wood took over the business from his father but rising fuel prices — at one time he was spending £1,000 a week on oil to run his cleaning machines — forced a rethink and in 1981 he moved out of Lydgate and into the premises which have been home to Smarty’s Dry-Cleaners for the past 28 years.