The owners of Trimbles will be retiring early next year after decades helping local families find the best costumes for any occasion

Michael and Barbara Blake in front of Trimbles in Windmill Hill

The owners of a long-running fancy dress shop and “Enfield institution” have announced it will be closing early next year.

Barbara and Michael Blake, who have run Trimbles in Windmill Hill for 27 years, said they would be selling up at the end of January.

The business started out in 1998 mainly selling dance wear for people attending the former Boden Performing Arts studio at the bottom of Windmill Hill, but when it closed the Blakes moved to a new premises further up the hill and became a one-stop-shop for fancy dress and costumes of all types.

Despite its popularity among Enfield families, trade declined in recent years as more people shopped online instead, and the Covid-19 pandemic also hit Trimbles hard.

Barbara, who makes some of the costumes Trimbles sells herself, told the Dispatch: “It is difficult with the competition online, but we also get lots of people coming in saying the internet has let them down and asking for particular outfits.

“Halloween is our busiest time. It was okay this year but in the past, in what I would call our heyday around ten years ago, we had queues out the door and down the road.”

Michael said: “We started with only six costumes, Barbara made a lot of them, and we just grew from there.

“The idea wasn’t to make lots of money but we hoped not to lose money. Until recently we had either broken even or made small profits.”

Barbara said she thought it was “very sad” that fewer people were now shopping at independent stores such as Trimbles and that she fears “the high street is going to disappear” in future.

Among the Trimbles customers paying tribute to Barbara and Michael on Facebook, as well as shop assistant Jennie Law who has worked there for 25 years, was Joy Cowley-Smith, who wrote: “How very sad, the end of an era, we wish the owners well in their future endeavours.

“Thank you for providing us over the years with great fancy dress costumes”

Dolly Palmer added: “Very sad to see another old local business close. I loved their fancy dressing up clothes.

“Good luck to all who work in Trimbles and thank you for your service to us.”

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