Bittersweet closure: Kathryn Phalp and Ian Morris outside the shop

FOR 30 years, a colourful shop has graced Junction Road. Selling cards, wrapping paper, kimonos, and commemorative plates, Map Gift Shop has become part of the street’s brickwork.

As Kathryn Phalp, the co-owner of the shop, said, “all good things must come to an end” and the shop is closing down in June.

Opened by Ms Phalp and Ian Morris, who met in 1985 and have been close friends and business partners since, the shop has become an essential part of community life in Archway.

“It’s been an emotional whirlwind since we announced we were closing. We’ve had customers in the shop crying. We’ve even had some – and I don’t know whether they were joking – but talking about leaving the area. There has been an overwhelming outpour of positivity and love,” said Ms Phalp.

Luckily, while the physical shop is closing, the owners will continue to sell a scaled-down range on their website.

“The starting point of deciding to close the shop was, ‘OK, we can’t go on forever. So, when do we stop?’ We’re not too old to do it, we could go on for another few years, but it just felt like a good time with the break in our lease.

“Of course, the rent is going up, so we would have to work harder to make the same money, and there’s a cost of living crisis so people aren’t spending that much. So we’re kind of being squeezed on both sides.

“Basically, all of those things equate to the fact that we would have to work harder just to stay in the same position. And would you do that?

“When you put it like that, it just felt like it was the right time – to be in control of it before we were having to make some really hard decisions.

“Now, we’re doing something completely new for us, and it’s really quite exciting,” said Ms Phalp.

The loss of shop space will be a hard one: “It’s our home. Seeing someone else in here is going to be difficult,” said Ms Phalp.

According to Mr Morris, the shop has profound connections with the area.

“We have one customer that we always get on a Saturday, she has no other contact outside of coming to the shop.

“She’s elderly and she has no living relatives. We have a few customers like that, and I do worry for them, because where are they going to get that contact now…? It’s a great shame really, because with that being lost, like in so many high streets, people of that generation are going to feel very much alone. You don’t get that same one-on-one connection shopping at a chain,” he said.

The two feel bittersweet about leaving the shop, but proud of the legacy they’ve left behind. “Every employee we’ve ever had, apart from one, is the child of one of our customers,” said Ms Phalp.

She added: “We had we had an all-time record day ever on Christmas Eve, after 30 years that’s not bad going. That’s the time to go, because you’re not diminishing.”