Sheffield Space Centre: I visited one of Sheffield's oldest shops and it was brimming with character and charm

Just outside Sheffield city centre, one of Sheffield’s oldest shops is still thriving - three generations after it first became a firm favourite among its customers.

Sheffield Space Centre has been serving the city for almost half a century, and, although it has only been at its current location for a smidgeon under 40 years, it is still going strong.

First opened in 1978 on London Road, the shop switched to its current location, on The Wicker, 1986. Its current owner, Dave Bromehead, took it over from previous boss Peter Hammerton in 1980, so is celebrating 45 years at the helm.

I remember the name from when I was at school. I had friends who swore by the place, mostly Marvel Comics fans. I visited myself a couple of times.

In the years that followed, I had forgotten about it - until I walked past again on the way to an appointment this week, and decided to take a look at how it was doing.

Dave is still going strong, with a team of staff who have been there almost as long as he has been there. Jim Wilkinson has been there since 1988, while Colin Yates is the newest member of staff. He’s only been there since 1990!

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Inside the shop, you find a building that is beautifully traditional. Rows and rows of comics and books line the walls, along with sci-fi books, For people who love their comic books, it has everything they could want, from the DC and Marvel comics, to Japanese Manga, and old comics, neatly labelled and kept in protective covers, for collectors.

It has been a busy week for Dave. This weekend was Free Comic Book Day - the industry’s answer to National Record Store Day, where publishers give the shops special comics to give away free. Dave said they gave away thousands on Saturday, and sold many more than usual too. He said it was the busiest weekend of the year.

Dave remembers the shop in the early days. He said: “Peter used to sell a lot of NASA patches, and that was where the name came from I think. But he moved into comics and graphic novels, but continued with a sci-fi line with things like Doctor Who and Star Trek, as well as Japanese Manga.

“We’ve still got people who come in from the early days. We have kept them, and then their sons, and then their grandsons.”

He said the customers used to be mostly male, but there was now more female interest than back in the early days, particularly in the Manga, which had a wider range of subject matter and was not just superheroes.

Dave, Jim and Colin all loved comics as youngsters, and still do. Growing up, Dave loved DC Comics like Batman. He admits they don’t sell as many as they used to, but he told me that the Marvel superheroes films in recent years had given the market a boost, as it had made household names of some of the genre’s lesser known characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Wandering around the shop, it was great to be in a proper bookshop. If you ask about a book there, you can be pretty sure you’ll not be told the line that they’ve not got it in stock but you could try the website.

There are reams of books. It may be a pretty niche market, but it is lovely to be able to pick up books off the shelves and take a look.

And the staff’s enthusiasm and knowledge of their market is a fantastic remainder of why some of us will always love shops over internet retailers.