Independent DIY store Mahjacks to close after more than 50 years in Dedworth

An independent DIY store which has been helping residents carry out home improvements in Dedworth for more than 50 years is closing.  

Mahjacks opened in Dedworth Road in 1966 and has been run by sisters Pamela Needham and Jackie Wixon-Jones.

Since then, its customers have included the Queen with the shop being granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment as a Tradesman to the Queen which is a mark of recognition for the goods it has supplied to the Royal Household.

Mahjacks has been the target of development in recent years and the co-owners considered downsizing in 2011 but could not find an alternative site in Dedworth.

But last week, they accepted an offer from developer Patrick Ruddy Homes, with the store now set to close in July.

Chalfont St Giles resident Jackie, 60, who is planning to retire in the summer, paid tribute to her staff, including shop manager Prakash Karia, and her loyal customers for their support.

She said: “We’ve always said here that we want to treat our customers the way we’d want to be treated.

“They really are the best customers and we’ve been really lucky.”

Jackie told the Express that the rise in women using the store has been one of the stand-out developments over its five decades of trading.

She added: “It’s really noticeable how many more women we’re getting in here now.

“My sister is a small and petite woman and we used to have builders who’d come in and they’d walk past her and go to one of the men.

“But invariably, Pam would end up intervening. She just knows everything about DIY.”

The site has planning permission for a 5,000 square foot shop with room for 13 flats above it.

Cllr Ed Wilson (Con, Clewer South) added: “They have got me out of trouble a lot of times when I’ve been attempting DIY.

“They are part of the fabric of Dedworth and they will be really missed, it is a real shame that they are going and I wish them all the best.”