'Heart of community' store forced to dump almost all stock after horror flooding
A family-owned discount shop in Birmingham has been left heartbroken after a slow leak destroyed almost all of their stock.
John's discount store in Bartley Green had to clear out their entire shop due to a constant leak from the flat above. John Norgrove, 59, who runs the shop with his brother Pete, 57, said he feels drained and disheartened after the three-week ordeal. This comes after a fire in the same flat above ruined their shop in 2017.
The shop is managed by Birmingham City Council, who also look after the flat above. The leak started on January 26, and was seemingly fixed by the council on February 17, who have said sorry for their slow response.
The council said they will treat any more problems raised by the shop as a "priority." But facing what could be months out of business as they try to save what little stock they have left, John said he feels "knocked" and has asked the council for extra help.
Talking to BirminghamLive on a wet carpet surrounded by empty 42L tubs, John said: "95 per cent of the stock is damaged.
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Co-owner of John's Discount Store John Norgrove has been left deflated (Birmingham Live)"We were open during the pandemic, we were one of eight shops around here that were left open. A lot of people do rely on us because we carry stuff that the other shops don't."
The brothers have been running their shop in Bartley Green for 25 years, and many elderly neighbours depend on their weekly deliveries. Their shelves are packed with everything from phone landline sets and snacks to bird seed and car cleaner.
A plastic bag full of electrical parts is now filled with water, a sad reminder of the flood damage from above. Most of this will likely be thrown away as Pete and John figure out how much they've lost. The council did send plumbers to fix the leak in the flat above, but they couldn't get in at first, and it took them three weeks to stop the leak.
A picture of fire crews dealing with a fire in the flat above John's discount store in Bartley Green in 2017 (Pete Norgrove)John, feeling downhearted, worries another incident could ruin their shop again, especially since the same unit caught fire in 2017. He says they need financial help and practical support from the council.
"We're asking for a skip, containers, to store things." He added: "We need new temporary premises, containers, humidifiers."
John was so desperate he started live streaming their clean-up efforts on Facebook every day to show how urgent the situation is.
"I don't want to go through the last time. As I say, it's the enthusiasm that been knocked out of me," said John. "After paying rent for 26 years, it has got me a fire and a flood." Shop volunteer John Harvey told us: "They serve the elderly customers, they are still trying to look after those customers. Another shop wouldn't run like that. Everyone comes in because it's the odd bits and bobs shop."
The damage in Johns Discount store in Bartley Green after it was flooded out due to a leak in the flat above (Birmingham Live)
A bag filled with water after three weeks of flooding hit Johns Discount store in Bartley Green (Birmingham Live)"Everyone still thinks the shop is still open. The shop is looking very empty. Now that the leak has stopped it could be about six months [until it opens]."
BirminghamLive put John and Pete's concerns to the council. A Birmingham City Council spokesperson responded: "We would like to apologise to the shop owners for the length of time it has taken to carry out this repair and the distress this has caused.
Co-owners John and Pete had to remove all the ceiling tiles (Birmingham Live)"The delay has been caused due to issues gaining access to the property and isolating the leak. The repair has now been carried out, and we would like to reassure the shop owners that there should be no further leaks. Should there be any further issues, we would welcome the shop owners to contact us on 0121 216 3330 and we'll treat it as a priority."
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