Bolton town centre icon closes after almost 40 years

Candy and Cards on Ashburner Street has been providing the town with greeting cards and confectionary and much more beside for almost four decades.

Most recently being tagged The Vape Kave, but still trading as Candy and Cards, the shop was taken over in January 1983 by Manji Halai.

He said: “January 1, 1983 was when we started the shop, it was there trading as Candy and Cards.

Owned for generations: L-R Mav Halai and his parents, Manji Halai and Meghbai Halai, the generations of owners of the store

“I used to work as a builder, but thought I wanted to start something – it did work.

“We were the only card shop when we first started. People used to come here for special cards, you know ones that play music.”

He added: “I retired and my son took over, it is a family business – I’ve been retired for nearly 20 years.

How the shop used to look back in the day

“I was the first or second Asian shopkeeper in the town centre at the time.”

He also spoke about the ‘The Vape Kave’ tag which the shop has been using more recently.

Manji said: “We’ve been selling e-cigarettes, but we’ve always been Candy and Cards.

The shop building is due to be demolished to make way for a new development.

The interior of Candy and Cards after having been stripped out

Mav Halai, Manji’s son and most recent owner of the shop said: “We had to close the shop. I’ve had to strip it out in a week!

“I’ve been running it for 20 years, it’s been progressive over the years. It’s a big, big thing – we’ll hopefully be back in two years with a new shop.”

He added: “It’s been in family for generations.”

Manji’s daughter in law, Varsha Halai, added how the shop

“It used to be really busy, a lot of people passing on the street outside.

“People would always meet here – ‘I’ll meet you at Candy and Cards.’”