This store in Strabane is celebrating fifty years in business this year, and its story really is one of survival, from humble beginnings back in 1954.

The shop can be found in the town's Abercorn Square. The original part of the building has quite a history; in the early part of the last century it was a hotel, called 'The Temperance Hotel'. Then later on it became a hardware shop, owned by Jack Boggs, who went on to set up the auctioneers business in Strabane.

Shop director Eileen Robinson, with original founder Hill Robinson In 1954 Mr Boggs sold the business to two brothers, Ronnie and Hill Robinson, and their friend Sam Linton. 'Linton and Robinson' was born. Ronnie Robinson was a carpet seller and his brother, Hill Robinson, was an expert on hardware - both men had been trained at Simpson and Hill's of Coleraine. Sam Linton's passion was for farm machinery, so from the start Linton and Robinson had an eclectic mix of products. Eileen Robinson talks about the store's beginnings, as well as difficulties it faced during the Troubles. The new shop was launched in the post-war years, just as rationing was coming to an end. This was a time of change and great optimism, and a time when people wanted to start spending time and money improving their homes. Starting up the business was a lot of hard work though, as the two surviving partners in the firm, Hill Robinson and Sam Linton, both remember. The men say everyone had to work all hours to ensure the business was a success and survived - in fact those principles of hard work and commitment stayed with the men throughout their years with the store.

Carpets and farm machinery were at the core of Linton and Robinson’s business back in 1954, and they still are to this day. There are two parts to the business; the main shop in Abercorn Square and then the farm machinery sales site in Dock Street. Sam Linton, who recently retired, has now handed over the reins of that side of the business to his son Trevor. You can buy almost anything in the hardware, building and farm machinery line here - even a milking parlour!

But if you’re not after farm machinery, what else can you buy at Linton and Robinson’s? This was something farmers' wives must have asked themselves when the shop opened in the 1950s. Alongside the carpets, the store developed to include furniture, china and electrical departments. You can't buy clothes here, unless you include horse-riding jackets. At Christmas, one of the busiest parts of the main shop is the toy department, which is managed by Sam Linton's daughter, Libby Linton.

A steady flow of customers is something shops in Strabane don’t take for granted. From 1970 onwards Linton and Robinson and its neighbouring stores faced the Troubles. This was one of the most heavily bombed towns in Northern Ireland. The Troubles had a devastating affect on trade. Eileen Robinson, one of the store's directors and widow of the late Ronnie Robinson, says the shop was often targeted by the terrorists, but despite the bombings the store stayed open – in fact, it only closed for one day. So the shop, like so many in Northern Ireland during those times, would frequently bear the sign ‘Business As Usual’.

Ironically it was during those dark days that the BBC used to screen the popular sitcom ‘Are You Being Served?’. Not surprisingly actor John Inman's catch-phrase 'I'm free' quickly caught on in the store and is still used today.

One of Linton and Robinson's oldest customers. 99 years young and Mrs Jean L'Amie can still touch her toes! Eileen Robinson says it was the customers who kept the business going during the 1970s. The store has regulars who’ve been coming for years, whose children now frequent the shop as well, even if they live miles away in Belfast. Once upon a time Linton and Robinson's typical customer was a farmer, and managers say the age profile of shoppers tends to be older, but they insist that a younger crowd is now coming into the shop, particularly with all the new homes springing up in Strabane. This department store really is a survivor. As well as The Troubles, at one stage, Linton and Robinson was also at the centre of a town with one of the highest unemployment figures in the UK. Most recently the impact of the introduction of the Euro south of the border has taken its toll, but the shop says things are now improving.

Listen to Mrs L'Amie reminiscing with Helen Mark about when the shop first opened.

Work is underway on the store's redevelopment Talking of money. Do you remember the old pneumatic pulley systems that shops used to send money to a cashier upstairs? Well they’re just pulling out the old system at Linton and Robinson, to make way for the new-look store. The shop, as it stands today, was built in three phases and now the building is being redeveloped. Managers are only too aware of the increasing competition from the multi-national stores that are appearing on high streets across Northern Ireland. It is hoped that the new look store will ensure the shop continues to thrive for another fifty years. Listen to Helen Mark pay the store a visit for the BBC Radio Ulster series Bargains and Bed Linens (broadcast 10 July 2004). Listen to Paddy McAleer, who worked in the store from its early days, recall staff outings, Strabane market days and the hiring fairs. Are you a long-standing Linton and Robinson customer? Perhaps you used to work in the shop? Share your stories and memories of the store here at Your Place & Mine.

YOUR RESPONSES

J.T.M - July '08
it is a great place to work. I am 20 and have been working full time for several months and find it a great place. opportunities to meet with so many different characters of people from all walks and backgrounds of life.

Pat Faille - May '06
I lived just opposite Linton & Robinsons for about 16 years, at The Cosmo, as it was know then. My father, Olive Mc Shane, later had the Ulster Bar next door. We shopped so often there and I still have some of the china crockery from my wedding service in 1965!

Now living in Ickenham N.W. London.

Ken & Nora Jones - Feb '06
Have you been to the newly refurbished store in Strabane. It is so nice to shop in, but above all and with out exception the 'sales staff' treat you as an individual with care and nothing is to much trouble. Lot's of new things to see plus a coffe shop. Recommended.

Richard Armstrong - Jan '06
I worked at Linton & Robinson from 1973-1979 for Ronnie Robinson selling furniture & carpets. I had the unenviable task of exporting goods to Donegal and completing Customs & VAT documents. I also collected outstanding debts for the company. I left the area in 1979 and moved to Oxfordshire, England.
Ronnie was famously hard working,dedicated and committed to service . I have never met his equal for energy & enthusiasm in the difficult period of the 1970s. He introduced me to Junior Chamber in Strabane-I was President in 1978-79.
I am now Managing Director of a Norwegian company Respatex International in Chesham Buckinghamshire.
I would like to hear from other staff/customers from that time.

James K Neill - March '05
We lived in Londonderry for a number of years, I was employed as an Engineer with the Du Pont Co at their Maydown works. I originally came from Kells, Co Antrim NI, and moved to Londonderry in 1966. When we set up home in Londonderry, we regularly shopped in Linton and Robinson's in Strabane, in fact to this very day, the majority of our furniture was purchased there, and was shipped to Canada when we immigrated in 1977.

We were very fond of Teak wood, and our choice was G Plan. I can advise that it looks every bit as good today as it did all those many years ago. In fact were we to place back in the store it would pass as new.

Now living in Surrey, British Columbia Canada.