Chapter 7

“Don’t rush it, Carol. I’d rather see one up and running, rather than a bunch of salons half-ready in the same time. If we get some experience first, we can see what goes right and what fails to work properly; okay? That also gives you time to explore our salon staff and see who has young children that we didn’t know about.”

“Right. I’ll get on it, a.s.a.p.”

This led to Carol making long trips to examine all the salons and determine which were suitable for an early conversion to the new style, so she spent several days away, staying overnight in hotels.

The rest of us had extra work looking after her Brenda, but the little girl seemed oblivious, as she was so used to her mother being away on trips, and having all the other children around her. These trips by Mummy led to her getting more attention from Daddy and her other mothers, and at her age, personal attention was her priority in life.

I found myself on duty in the nursery with Phyllis one evening, and after we had all the children in bed at least and the younger ones sound asleep, Phyllis took the opportunity to talk business with me as we sat side by side rocking a child to sleep each.

“Bob, dear, do you know much about the antiques trade? I know you have a number of valuable furnishings and artwork, but how deep is your knowledge?”

“Nothing like a professional level, but enough to find them interesting. Remember we bought a load of furnishings from that house contents auction several years back? I boned up on these at the time and was pleasantly surprised at the high quality of these furnishings. The deceased old lady had a good eye for furniture of all kinds, and I reckon we got a good bargain at the time.”

I paused then questioned her, “But why are you asking me this? Usually when we talk privately, you want sex!”

“But darling Bob, you like having sex with me, and I like having sex with you, so that is normal. This is not. Georgie came to me about a woman who came into her agency and asked if you could sell a house as it is, with all the deceased’s possessions still inside. Georgie gently explained that a house like that almost never sells for a decent price, if the purchaser has to work for hours or spend a lot to have the place cleared. The furnishings may hide a defect behind it, which makes it another problem in unloading the property. It sells better if it is empty, and in particular well cleaned so it smells nice to the potential purchasers. Arising from that, the woman asked her if she knew of anyone who could and would clear the house contents. George told her that such a trader would either have to be paid a good deal to cover the labour costs and then the disposal costs after sorting out what might have any value; or give the trader carte blanche to remove the contents in exchange for a no-charge clearance. She opted for the second choice, and Georgie phoned me.”

“And you have never done a house clearance before, so you are looking for help?”

“That’s what it boils down to, Bob.”

I thought for a bit, and up popped in my mind the facts of her business. She worked in a warehouse, and rented a corner for her antiques storage, therefore the firm must have at least one large van, and employees who were used to physical labour.

“Phyllis, are you on good terms with your fellow employees, and also with the warehouse owner?”

“Yes. I suppose I am.”

“And does the company have a large van that just sits there in the evening?”

“Oh. I see what you are getting at: I could borrow the van and a few men, and empty that house in an evening! Such a simple solution.”

“A simple solution is often the best answer, Phyllis love. Tomorrow, check if the firm is happy with you borrowing the van for a few hours, all costs paid by you. You can hire the driver and moving men on your own, at whatever rate you think is merited, and that just leaves you with the sorting problem. Presumably there is floor space in the warehouse where you could do this, and use the warehouse’s waste skips for the rubbish. The better stuff? You just move it to your antiques corner for later cleaning and valuing.”

“But how do we sort it, my love?”

This seemed fairly simple to me, but maybe it is just my simple mind being simple.

“Get it all dumped from the van in one spot, then it can be moved to one of a number of piles. These can be: complete rubbish, to be dumped; apparent rubbish that may be recoverable by cleaning or washing; furnishings and equipment in need of repair or refurbishment; items that look in reasonable condition that might be sellable; and finally the best stuff that is worth selling for a good price after a quick clean or polish. I expect I and a few of the others will be able to help with the sorting, with you making the final decisions, from the viewpoint of your business. The odd thing might be worth us picking up for our home, as a minor reward for helping without charge.”

“Of course anything that strikes the fancy of anyone can be picked up, Bob. That is what I would expect. You think the girls will be willing to help sorting through the stuff?”

“It is entirely up to them, Phyllis, but I expect they will love to rake through the household contents in hopes of finding something they would like to have.” Fortunately the house was in Ashton, and on the main road, so easy of access. That told us that the elderly owner was not short of a bob or two, so Phyllis had hopes of getting some good antiques out of it.

In another couple of days Phyllis had the house clearance operation prepared, and the day after that she put it in motion. It was an evening operation with the deceased’s daughter letting them in and suggesting the order for clearing the rooms in the house.

Two men stayed at the van to load large stuff aboard as it came to them, two more were fetching and carrying, and Phyllis was taking bag after bag of smaller items to the van. Fortunately it was dry and the pavement was soon cluttered with items waiting to be loaded. The daughter pointed out a bunch of empty suitcases in a cupboard, and these were swiftly filled with clothes, shoes, and other paraphernalia, speeding up the transporting. The big shift was furniture from the living spaces, and these were placed on the van floor near the back, then other padded or less bulky things laid on top. The general principle was: heavy and more rigid things at the bottom, lighter things above.

It was only now that the woman revealed that there was a garden shed full of tools and equipment, including a lawnmower that her gardener used when he came. A quick estimation told Phyllis that the van would have to come back to clear the garden shed. Another thought got her to ask about the garage.”Oh, yes. The car is to be sold, but anything else in the garage is for clearance,” she told Phyllis, so Phyllis told her the van would have to return tomorrow evening to clear these two spaces. She took a quick look inside the garage, and found a vehicle toolbox, two spare wheels, and an array of fluids in tins: oil, brake fluid, and other lubricants, most of them unopened. Probably they were purchased by the widow’s husband when he was alive and driving. The car was a Daimler 24, which meant nothing to Phyllis, but when she told me about it,

I recognised it as a pre-war car, with one of the models being a limousine that I had heard was used by senior RAF officers during the Battle of Britain, and that appeared in several films about the war. Depending on when the husband died, the tyres might be flat by now, but if the garage was watertight, the vehicle might be in good condition otherwise. If it was the limousine model, even better, for it would have more value.

“You should tell her that the car is a vehicle of interest to car collectors and possibly quite valuable. That should make her pleased at least, and prevent her from changing her mind about some items in the house.”

Phyllis smiled at me. “Good point. I’ll tell her tomorrow. My little girl is sleeping now. How about your burden?”

“I think she has gone over as well. Let’s see if we can get Karen and Brenda into bed without waking them up.” “Then perhaps we have time for a fuck? What do you think?”

I grinned but agreed and we moved to her bedroom to perform the horizontal dance. She was still euphoric at being declared a wife at last, and it appeared to stimulate even more her desire for sex. Phyllis was one of the most enthusiastic for sex in the family. She was seven months pregnant as it was, and I was sure she was going to want more children, despite her business responsibilities. If this clearance went well, and she made money from it, then she will look for more house clearance opportunities.

In the morning, several of us who could be free went to the warehouse and embarked on the sorting process. Much of it was simple and straightforward, which speeded up the work, then it slowed as I and the others had to refer to Phyllis about the correct category to put something in. One was a well-made metal stand for umbrellas or walking sticks, which none of us recognised, but the Victorian style of it looked too good to be thrown out. Phyllis told us to put it with the antiques pile until she could look it up in her reference books, of which she now had a collection. The cost of them could be put down on the tax form as a business expense; thank God, as they were expensive.

By mid-afternoon we had the back of it broken, and switched to disposal of the rubbish pile while Phyllis considered the semi-rubbish and made her decisions over costs of cleaning or fixing. That added more to the rubbish pile to be cleared, but reduced the total somewhat. That meant we could halt until the second lot arrived this evening. These were probably mostly ‘keeps’ of one kind or another. Unopened cans of considerable age had a higher value to collectors than empty cans of the same brand.

We went home and had an early dinner, with the intention of going back to the warehouse in time for the loaded van’s arrival, and get the second collection sorted and the floor cleared before the warehouse resumed normal operations next morning.

It was a bit of a rush, but sorting the first collection had got us into a method to work swifter, and with fewer items it was also easier to deal with. Nothing was examined in detail; that could be done by Phyllis another day in her own spare time. We finished and got home, and we all went off to sleep, exhausted.

For a couple of days, Phyllis worked on the additions to her inventory, and came to the conclusion that if she did more house clearances, she would need more space. She mentioned this to the warehouse manager, and got a shock. He told her that one of the grocery chains that they warehoused for, had announced that they would build their own warehouse and run it themselves. Thus they would no longer need the contract with this private warehouse.

“What does this mean, Trevor?” she asked the manager. “How does it affect my business?”

He grimaced as he said, “There’s good news and bad news, Phyllis. The good news is there is now plenty more space for you to make use of. The bad news is that the warehouse is going to be running at a loss, so I foresee that we are going to be closed before long. I can’t see any other option, as this seems to be the direction that grocery chains are going. We are unlikely to get a replacement contract from another chain. Buying or building their own distribution warehouses gives them a better group tax liability, and more direct control over the staffing and other aspects of the operation. I can see them working on a staffing level lower than what we work on here, to increase their profitability. That’s the pattern they use.”

Phyllis stared at him in shock for a minute, thinking rapidly. She asked, “Does that mean all the men are going to lose their jobs?”

“Eventually, yes. Some of them now and some as and when the other grocery group decides to follow suit. The warehouse then have to close up, for we can’t exist on your lease alone.”

Phyllis was rapidly thinking about other antiques operations she had heard of. There was at least one that operated like a cooperative, with them sharing the cost of joint premises. This was a business question, so she reckoned she needed Sandy’s advice before committing herself to the concept.

“Trevor? How quickly will all this happen? I need to consult with a business expert, but there is a slim possibility that your warehouse operation might be worth exploring with her.”

He brightened up, but explained, “The group that is leaving will need a month to run down the stocks they hold here, and then transfer the remainder to whatever new building they have taken on. They have at least given me a month’s notice of departing the contract, which unfortunately it allows them to do. I hadn’t noticed that before, not having such a concern.”

“So I have a month to decide on my business’s future?”

“That’s about it, I’m afraid,” said Trevor.

“Will you lose your job as well?” she asked.

His face fell as he realised, and slowly nodded his conclusion. “Yes. I’d better start looking for a new post somewhere.”

“Don’t rush it,” advised Phyllis. “If my preliminary thoughts work out, I might be looking for a manager in this very building.”

Trevor’s eyes widened as he took this in. He said slowly, “Very well. I’ll put my feelers out for a new job, but not imply any hurry. After all, I still have a month at a minimum before I’ll know when they want me to finish.”

“Good. I’ll get started with my business consultant and see what she advises.” That ended up as having a discussion with Sandy in the nursery as they attended to their children. Phyllis explained the quandary she was in, and her initial thoughts about a cooperative antiques market. Sandy was at first wary of the idea, then came up with her own version.

“Phyllis, a cooperative of businesses means meetings to discuss the standards to be applied; the conditions under which a member has to operate, and how a member can be ejected from the cooperative, for example. It is great in theory, but awkward in practice. It could take months to be got ready, and you don’t have the luxury of time.

Instead, if you simply bought out the warehouse and its existing contracts, you have carte blanche to run it as suits you. You could probably lease out floor space to each dealer for a smallish sum per month, and take a percentage cut of sales, with you providing the sales manager who would be based there. The dealers would state what range of discounts they would accept for sales to other dealers, and what minor discounts they would allow to retail buyers to complete a sale.

That way, you can say what regulations would apply on a lease; for example, demand a changeover of stock at least once a month, and that they remain responsible for keeping their stock clean and bright to maintain a high standard of presentation within your market. You can add or amend your rules as you see fit. Put in a clause that allows you to ask a dealer to leave on a month’s notice (if for example they didn’t get along with your manager), and give them the same option to leave if they so desired (for example if their sales were too low to justify the cost of staying, or if they wanted to retire).

We can tweak the regulations as to how you see the market operating, but get the basics sorted before you start offering places. You need a good name to attract custom, so think about names; for example, Gourock Antiques Emporium, or Antiques For You, or Curious Antiques; you get the idea?”

Phyllis asked her, “How do I get dealers to set up a stall in my market?” “That should not be difficult, for dealers are always looking for outlets to display their stock. Isn’t there a national body that lists their members?” “Oh, yes: the British Antique Dealers Association. You think that should give me the details? If so, I can find all the Scottish members, and that should give me a head start. I can write to them all, telling them about my new business and the terms of entry to my emporium.”

Sandy reminded her, “Your terms must be slightly better than other emporia, to attract the businesses you want to feature in the warehouse. There are other matters you will have to address: A cafe or restaurant of sorts, to encourage visitors to loiter longer, car parking to attract people from further afield – make it free parking if you can; that will make it more attractive if people can park almost at your entrance.”

Phyllis sighed as she shifted the child in her lap to be more comfortable, “I can see I am going to be busy over the next few weeks!”

Sandy mentioned, “Janet may be able to interest Cafe Continental in running your centre’s food service outlet. Speak to her about the idea. You might prefer to offer the site at zero cost for the first half year or so, to see if they can make money at it. That should encourage them to take up the offer. Does the warehouse have cooking facilities for the staff at present?”