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Thank you for 50 years.
This year we're celebrating our 50th anniversary. Albion Cobblers began in Budleigh Salterton in 1975, and here's a little history into us.
The picture above was taken sometime in the 1990s. Norman's Super Warehouse, which was then the co-operative, was later closed mainly due to the new Tesco Superstore in Exmouth opening and plans were made to turn it into a housing estate, which went underway in the early 2000s, completed by 2006.
This site today is now Norman Crescent.
1975 - The Shoe Bar
We started out in a little wooden shed on the site of Norman's Superwarehouse. We were there for almost 30 years before Norman's closed for good.
The huge machine you see us use in-store today is the very same one we had from day one which we used for both cutting keys down and repairing shoes.
Norman's Superwarehouse
Norman's was Budleigh's supermarket, it had everything you needed from groceries to plants, a cafe and of-course a place to get your keys cut and your shoes repaired.
In 1994, Tesco on Salterton Road was opened and Norman's began to decline in use.
By the 2000s, Norman's had turned into a Co-Op and then eventually closed down and the land was re-purposed for a housing estate - Norman Crescent which is what you see today.
We then decided to re-locate to Albion Street in Exmouth.
Before Norman's
If you're wondering what was there before Norman's - it was the former railway line for Budleigh Salterton.
You can see below were the former line was, just below Jocelyn, Boyne & Armytage Road. You can see the railway run through what is now the block of flats opposite Greenway Lane park cutting through the tops of Queens, Dukes, Shortwood and Deepways. Frewins was already there before the other roads.
Sadly, satellite images are blurred during the years of when Norman's was there, but you can see Norman Crescent being built in 2005 on Google Earth.
2000s
We moved into Albion Street in the 2000s and stayed there up until 2020, when we moved to our current premises. We re-named to Albion Shoe Repairs, Key Cutting & Carpet Cleaner Hire.
This store is were most people know us from and the name Albion Street Cobblers become well known in the community, which is why we kept it the same (despite no longer being on Albion Street)
In 2016, we stopped providing carpet cleaners to offer a new exciting service - engraving. This was a huge success for us and have since gone on to provide many local businesses, charities, schools, sports with many different engraved products.
2020s
By 2020, we had outgrown the little store on Albion Street, so we moved into the former Thomas Cook store, just 50 yards away from the former store.
We decided to keep the same name we've had for over 20 years, but shortening it to Albion Cobblers to reflect the huge change in products and services we were now offering.
We would like to say a huge thank you to all of our customers for the last 50 years.
It has been a huge privilege to be continuing to serve the community of Exmouth, without our wonderful customers we would be no more, so we would like to say, to all of our customers, thank you so much for your support over the years.
And of-course, here's to another 50.
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