Wednesday 9 February 2011

33 and counting for Harry Garlick’s Long Player!

OUR client,electrical retailer, Harry Garlick is set to celebrate the big 33 for its very own Long Player!
But that’s not 33rpm like a vinyl LP – it’s 33 years with the business for longest serving employee Ian Heald, the manager of Harry Garlick’s Barnoldswick branch.

Iain first joined the business in 1978 after he left school and for 28 years worked at the Burnley branch, starting on the shop floor and working his way up to be the branch manager.

He admits that keeping up with the latest developments in technology gets harder as you get older, but he recalls fondly the first thing that he sold - an Ultra Music Centre, that in 1978 cost a whopping £189 – which was the equivalent of three weeks wages for most people!

“It was a music centre,” Iain recalled, “so it was a record deck, a tape recorder and radio - like a radio gram. It was expensive at the time, but now you’d get that type of equipment for next to nothing. At the time it was cutting edge and the thing to have.”

“Things have moved on a lot, because nowadays the thing to have would be wifi equipment, so people can have music all round their house wirelessly.”

Harry Garlick may have diversified into many areas of consumer electronics, but they have a long association with television. Ian says that this is another area where things have progressed tremendously.

“3D is the latest thing in TV, but I can remember in the 1980’s when people were shown 3D and they had to wear green and red glasses. The picture quality was awful and people still think of that. It’s changed massively - I watched the Ryder cup on 3D and it was amazing. The contours on the green were really visible - it was fantastic.”

Besides the changes in technology, Ian fondly remembers the people and characters that he’s worked with and served down the years. But the funniest incident involved his father.

“He rang to say that my son had ruined his new video recorder. My son had been giving him instructions over the phone on how to set it up. When he put the video in and pressed play it just made a horrible grinding noise and got stuck. I asked how was that my son’s fault and he said, “well he didn’t bloody tell me to take the cellophane off the tape!”. So when people come in and say they’re techno-phobic, I tell them not to worry - they can’t be as bad as my dad!”

One of Ian’s sons now works at Harry Garlick’s Clitheroe branch, so it’s fair to say he’s kept it in the family!

“Harry Garlick is also a family run business, so it’s got a very good atmosphere, which is important to me. Plus I think it helps as customers have a sense of knowing that they can trust us to give good customer service. We’ve kept that friendly, family approach throughout my time here – even with the advent of new technology and an evolving market place. So for example, this Christmas we used our TV to have a family skype call between us in Barlick, my sister’s family in Nottingham and her daughter in Australia. Being able to do that so easily for all the family is just amazing, especially for the older generation is just mind blowing!

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