WHEN James Harry Green set up his Westhoughton furniture shop in 1911 he would never have believed it would still be trading 90 years later.

The carpenter would have been even more amazed if you told him the business he set-up before the First World War was having to compete against out of town megastores.

But family firm Green's Furnishers, on Market Street, has beaten all the odds and is celebrating nine decades of trading this year.

The business is now run by James' grandson David. He took over when his father Harry died in 1984.

The 51-year-old said: "I think they would both be very proud that the business is still running today.

Service

"I think they would also be proud that we have always tried to uphold what they set out to do, providing a good service and a quality product."

James set-up his shop next door but one to where customers will find Green's Furnishers and Bed Centre today.

In those days he bought his own timber and built the furniture which people ordered, carrying out the job himself with two cabinet makers.

His son Harry began working in the shop when he was 13-year-old and specialised in wood carving. He made the notice board which still stands outside St Bartholomew's Church, on Market Street.

James died aged 79 in 1955 and David then became involved in the business from an early age.

He was originally a teacher, but in the late 1970s returned to Westhoughton and helped in the shop.

His father died in 1984, aged 84. He was in the store at the time, enjoying his passion for wood carving while working on a grandfather clock.

The modern business is now run very differently, but David continues to carry out individual commission work.

As part of their 90th birthday celebrations, the Green family invited specialist pottery company Moorcroft to carry out demonstrations in the shop this week.

Artist Sian Leeper showed how the vases are individually hand-made, some of them selling for up to £12,500.

The two firms have been dealing with each other for around 80 years.

Kim Thompson, from the Stoke-on-Trent company, said: "We deal with some companies which have been around for many years, but a family business like this takes some beating." David and his wife Jean, aged 52, who helps run the pottery side of Green's, are now looking forward to their centenary in 2011.

They have a daughter Sarah, aged 14, who could become the fourth generation of Greens to run the company in the future.

David said: "She has shown an interest, but there is no pressure on her. She has plenty of time to decide what she wants to do."