After 13 years with no holidays and no weekends Joop Doodeman is closing his distinctive Windmill shop in Bulls and taking a well-earned break.
He and wife Janna started the shop in the late 1990s. It sold Dutch products such as cheese, licorice and Delft blue porcelain.
Until six yearsago half of the premises was a cafeteria, but it was "far too busy" and kept them working 100 hours a week. They closed that and put more effort into the shop in the expanded area. Sales were good, until the recession hit.
"It went really well until about three years ago, and it's been on a downhill slide ever since. I haven't paid myself for two years, so I'm doing this for love," Mr Doodeman said. He decided to call it quits when the lease came up for renewal and he couldn't see an end to the recession.
He hasn't set a date for closing the shop, but is in the process of selling everything off. He might consider opening only at weekends for a while, or taking whatever is left to Wanganui and selling it at the River Traders' market. The site on State Highway One in Bulls had been ideal, he said.
