Dog days are over for pet shop owner as he moves into new store
Nigel Cain at his new Pet Supplies shop
A PET shop owner, who was kicked out of Farnworth Market Precinct after 32 years, has moved into his new store.
Pet Supplies Direct owner Nigel Cain was served an eviction notice by market precinct landlords St Modwen three months ago.
The notification came ahead of plans to demolish the site, before it is sold to Bolton Council in a multi-million pound deal.
Mr Cain has now moved into a unit in Brackley Street, in between the Pound Bakery and Althams Travel.
He said: "The response since I moved in last week has been absolutely fantastic. I couldn't ask for more.
"Everybody's been so positive. There's been hundreds of people commenting saying nice things on Facebook. It's lovely. You can't buy that.
"It had already been refurbished to a degree so I've just had to put my own stamp on it.
"It's still a work in progress but the main thing was to get in here and trade. We're just tweaking it as we're going along but everything's on track."
Mr Cain's new store is his fourth within a 50 yard area.
His previous three were all in the market precinct, spending 15 years in his first premises, 13 years in the second and four in the most recent.
In March, Bolton Council revealed plans to buy the precinct and last month, St Modwen submitted an application to demolish the entire site.
While the deal is still yet to be finalised, the demolition was a key part of the negotiations.
Pet Supplies Direct was the only business still operating after the closure of Deli on the Square earlier this year.
Mr Cain added: "It's taken three months to get here since I was served notification by St Modwen.
"The truth of the matter is I had no choice. I probably would have stayed in the old premises given the choice but it so far it seems like some positive can come out of the move.
"The real truth is the operating costs are greater so I do need a bigger customer base. That stands to reason.
"However, I want to thank everyone that's helped me so far in getting here."
Plans on what may happen to the market precinct site once bought by the council, were revealed at a Farnworth area forum meeting, earlier this month.
The site will be a mixed use development under the plans, which the majority of residents said they supported in the consultation.
Under the most recent proposals, a new community hub, including health facilities will also be created in the precinct.
This has been decided after previous plans, which included a possible closure of Home Bargains, were met with criticism.
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