Many long time residents of our city will remember Hanningtons store which stretched from East Street round the corner into North Street and many buildings behind those two roads.
Its demise was no surprise as it never really developed into the 20th century let alone the 21st. It remained rooted in its beginnings in the 19th ce
ntury whilst one could buy durables from armchairs to zips, and every letter of the alphabet in between, from its counters and departments and separate shops service was not a concept with which the staff were acquainted.
I recall in the 1970’s having an appointment in Saltdean with as it turned out three spinster sisters and their unmarried brother. Somehow the conversation got round to Hanningtons and one of the sisters remembered a member of the Hannington family arriving in a horse drawn carriage emblazoned with the store livery to collect or bring her mother’s weekly order.
I cannot remember the date or why but one year Carole applied for a temporary job over the Christmas period. She was interviewed by the personnel department, offered the job and allocated to the costume jewellery counter where she was told in no uncertain terms by the regular saleslady not to serve a customer until this lady had given her the nod. They received a pittance of commission and this lady wanted the regular and better off looking customers for herself.
Carole told me the staff quarters were more antiquated even than the areas patronised by customers and that it was not an experience she would repeat.