Aladdin's Cave, the West Derby Road shop in Tuebrook where Russell Crowe once joked he would pay a million pounds for a carving, is still trading almost unchanged 60 years after it first opened in 1966. Jack Willdridge opened the shop, and it remains in the family, now run by his son John and grandson David.
A shop frozen in time
David Willdridge told the ECHO: "My dad, John, started working here when he was just a youngster, and he has been the boss for a fair old time, so now he is at the age where he can take a few more days off in the week. Originally we started off as a tool shop, with both my dad and my grandfather, Jack, being mechanical engineers. And then, slowly over time, tastes changed and our preferences changed as well, so we started doing a little bit more in the fishing department, we started to sell more fishing reels and fishing tackle. And then more guitars, and then eventually air rifles."
With almost every inch of its walls covered in rifles, vintage guitars and taxidermy, many people walking into the shop will inevitably feel that it belongs to a different era. David said: "It is not just the stuff that is hanging on the walls, it is how we hold ourselves. There is a reason people keep coming back, and it is because you will get lost in a world of wonders when you come into the shop. That is why it was originally called Aladdin's Cave, because it was. It was just awe-inspiring, and you could get lost looking at one wall for five minutes before you realise that there is ten things you did not notice."
Artefacts with history
David explained that the shop has more to offer beyond what can be found on its walls, with the artefacts carrying their own stories. He said: "The walls are decorated with the history. We've got everything from brass woodworking tools, which have taken the best part of sixty-odd years to collect and consolidate and turn into glorified wall hangings, when back in the day, it was a sign of being a master craftsman. I've got a Martini-Henry which is a rifle on the wall from the Boer War, which is one of the most important rifles in British military history. I've got a cavalryman's sword up there, which is from the last of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Waterloo. That's got chips down the front and the back."
While all of that is for sale, there are some things in the shop which not even an A-list celebrity could prize away. David said: "While Russell Crowe was over here, I think filming Robin Hood, he came into our shop, saw our wood carving of a Native American, and asked how much it was worth. And my old man, said, 'Oh, he is not for sale. He is part of the family.' And Russell Crowe said, 'Well, if I offered you a million pounds, would you take it?' And my dad obviously said, 'Well, of course I would, but yeah, it is not for sale.' And Russell Crowe said, 'Well, that is what it is worth.' And then he turned around and walked away. So, he wasn't actually offering us a million pounds, but he was just making a point that even if it is not for sale, everything has its price."
Family first
It is not the only item they refuse to sell. Hanging on the wall above a row of guns is a picture signed by each member of the Beatles. David said: "My grandfather bought that at an auction house when I was a very young boy. With it being signed by all four of The Beatles, I am sure it has a lot of monetary worth, but I cannot frame a fifty-pound note. It wouldn't look right."
David said: "We genuinely care about what we sell, and we care about the people that we sell it to. I dare anyone to come into my shop and try and get away without me chewing their ear off. That does a lot towards building up a rapport with customers, but then at the same time, it means that that person feels comfortable and confident with what they bought. It means then if they have any issues in the future, they can come back, and they will feel like they can talk to me and they can ask a question, and I will give them all the advice."
David added: "If you buy something, whatever it may well be, online, the aftercare is not there. The care for you buying something is not there. They are just after the pound notes, and that is not really the be-all and end-all of our shop. Of course it is a business, we need to make money. But I would rather have someone come to me in fifty years' time and say, 'I remember my granddad bringing me in here when I was a child,' because I have heard that said by fifty-year-old men now saying, 'I remember coming in here with my granddad when my granddad was the boss.'"
He said: "My own granddad was kicked out of the orphanage at the age of sixteen. He died a very happy man, surrounded by a family. That is why our business works, because the first and foremost is family. Yes, it makes us money. Yes, we make ends meet. Yes, we make a profit. But we know full well at five o'clock when I shut the shop, I go home to my children and my beautiful wife, as does my dad. That is the important thing."
David concluded: "And I think because I still have that in my knowledge, I know that was what he was after with this type of shop. He wanted a place where he could work with my dad, and he got to spend every day of his life with my dad. So, as long as that is the fundamental basis of our shop, I think if my granddad walked in through the front door and saw what was happening now, I think he would be happy."
