Member Article

Trusting shopkeeper leaves store unattended

A North Yorkshire shopkeeper left his hardware store open on Boxing Day, but with an honesty box instead of staff. Tom Algie wanted to give himself and his three staff the day off but without letting down his customers, reports the Daily Mail.

He left a note telling shoppers to serve themselves and then leave their payment in the box he had left behind the counter. When Mr Algie, 47, returned at 4.15pm to close up, he was delighted to find the shop in Settle, had taken £187.66 - and two euros.

The father of two said: “I didn’t think twice about leaving the shop open. Settle is a lovely quiet rural town and there’s never any trouble here. I put my faith in my customers and I wasn’t disappointed. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I just wanted to spend the holidays with my family but thought it would be quite nice to open up the shop.”

His note read: “Yes, I have given everyone the day off, including me, so please choose the items you want and place the right money inside. Merry Christmas.”

Customers also left notes saying what goods they had bought and this, combined with a quick check of his stock, confirmed that his trust was not misplaced.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .