Having, for many years, served all its customers’ home and garden needs, The Lakes Home Centre is proving a draw to Cockermouth.

Gary Whetton, general manager of the store on Low Road, which also encompasses Listers Furnishing, said it was popular with both locals and visitors.
“We’re two separate businesses – The Lakes Home Centre is downstairs and Listers Furnishing is upstairs. We get a lot of regular customers who come to the coffee house. We also get people from the North East. They come into the store and are amazed that we have such a big independent store in Cockermouth.”
Originally established by Thomas Armstrong, the business was acquired by the long-established Listers Furnishing in 2004. Gary has been there since the beginning. “We were a builders’ merchants across the road and I started there in 1995,” he said. “I came over in 1999 when we were first built. When Thomas Armstrong opened The Lakes Home Centre they approached Listers and they had a little part of the store downstairs just for furniture, but then we put a mezzanine floor in and Listers went upstairs.”
The beauty of the shop, said Gary, is its variety. “It’s all under one roof – everything for the home and garden. We’ve tried to literally have everything anybody could want. We’ve got rid of things over the years. We used to do fitted kitchens and bathrooms but we got rid of them because they just weren’t working for us, but we try and stock as much as we can.”
Which goods are popular varies according to the season. “Obviously the gardening is just starting to get going now with people planting things and starting to sort their gardens out,” said Gary. “Probably from April to the end of July is our busiest section across the store. The DIY sells really well and brands like Dulux, Crown and Ronseal, but probably the biggest increase in the last three or four years is in our electrical department.”
The current energy crisis has brought changes in people’s buying habits. “Over the last few months we’ve sold hundreds, if not thousands, of air fryers because they don’t use as much electricity,” said Gary. “We can’t seem to get enough of them. Heated airers are another one and slow cookers – anything that’s energy saving. That trend is definitely continuing. It will probably drop when the weather starts to get a bit warmer and barbecues start coming into effect.”