A WOMAN has vowed to save one of Brighton’s longest established stores.

Pullingers shoe shop had been a fixture in the North Laine for more than 30 years before it closed down earlier in the year.

But Tracy Cullen, who had been working part time in the Bond Street store when it closed in July, decided she wanted to help give it a new lease of life.

Ms Cullen, 48, of Graham Avenue in Patcham, said: “When it was announced Pullingers was closing down, we started to get visitors who had taken day trips just to tell us they had bought their first ever pair of shoes here all that time ago. It’s such an institution, it seemed a crime to let it go.”

Together with her family, the born-and-bred Brightonian put her best foot forward with a proposal to the original owner - Barry Windham - to revamp the shop and run it anew, which he accepted.

Because it is under new management, the shop will be registered as Pullingers Ltd - but Ms Cullen is adamant she has not given the original owners the boot.

She said: “We really wanted them to stay involved - they’ve been doing it for years and didn’t want to close it down.

“But now we have two families involved in the say of the business.”

Pullingers will relaunch as part of the North Laine Late Night Shopping event, on December 8, with both Ms Cullen’s and Mr Windham’s children putting in their heart and ‘sole’ on the night.

The shop will hark back to its origins, with handwritten receipts, paper bags and an old fashioned personalised service - including traditional shoe measuring techniques. Its original sign will also be given a new lick of paint - turning its green frontage to blue.

Ms Cullen also wanted to keep stock British made but has had to branch out to Italian and German leather shoe brands.

She said: “We wanted to strip it back to its original core values - the interiors will make everything about the shoe, but the service will truly make everything about the customer.”

The Pullingers brand began as a shoe shop in George Street, Kemp Town, which has stood in the same spot for 102 years and now operates as a shoe repair shop.

Ms Cullen recommends any shoe care should be done at the George Street store due to the long held ties between both shops. The reopening Bond Street store will offer two part-time roles and hopes to take on apprentices who wish to learn about the manufacturing, care and sale of leather shoes.