A family business which has been serving customers for over 40 years will soon close permanently. York-based children’s products retailer Paul Stride is set to shut at the end of April as the owner has been told he can no longer work.

Paul Stride is now running a closing down sale on its stock, which includes prams, highchairs, clothing and car seats. New parents have been calling at the store for decades since it first opened in 1982, with multiple generations in some families having now called in for baby products. Owner Kevin Clarkson, 61, was diagnosed with an illness in February which means he is no longer able to work.

Forced to take early retirement, Kevin explained to YorkMix he would not otherwise have wanted to shut up shop. “I’ve been diagnosed with an illness, and my consultant says I have to give up work – so it wasn’t planned, I’d still be here otherwise.”

He reflected fondly on his years in the business, saying: “I enjoy it. I have always enjoyed it. That’s why I stuck with it, it’s a nice business to be in. You meet a lot of nice people at a nice time of their life, an exciting time of life, and we’re very lucky.”

Kevin added he had seen many people come into the store when pregnant, then return as grandparents-to-be years on.

Customers old and new reacted with sadness to the store’s Facebook post announcing the closure, with many sharing their memories of shopping there.

User Em Yates said: “I hope Kevin will be OK. He’s been an absolute gem over the years with prams, car seats and everything else child related (and my parents when I was little!)”

Alison McCandless added: “So sad to read this. Paul and his team helped us so much when our daughters were born (13 years ago). Always on hand to help us move to the next phase of our little people!”

She added: “Brilliant service and knowledge.”

Originally opened as a department store, trading on Acomb Front Street, the store had sold shoes, hosiery, lingerie, pans and other items.

It was begun by Kevin’s mother Pauline and her friend Pauline Turner, who shortened their shared name to make the first half of the brand.

“Stride” came from the shoes the store had been selling initially to create the “Paul Stride” name.

Kevin himself joined the shop two years after it was established, in 1984, to run the accountancy part of the business.

In 2000, he made the decision to focus on nursery products and relocated to the current site, which had better parking.

Now a father of two and grandfather himself, he runs the company with wife Philippa, though his mother Pauline still helps with some of the paperwork despite now being in her 80s.

Kevin added: “I have thoroughly enjoyed the nursery trade. It is a small trade; we all talk to each other, and I have made lots of good friends over the years. There used to be three or four nursery retailers in York in the 1990s when there were lots of smaller shops around but that has changed.

“Other things have also changed. Technology has come on especially with car seat safety; that’s one of the big differences now as well as the fabrics and materials being used today.

“It is a typical family business. I get a lot of people in who I sold prams to for their babies who come back as grandparents. All I can do is thank all the loyal customers we have had.”