After four decades of Friday night dinners, John and Doreen Sloss have served their final scoop of chips at Roto St Takeaways.
The husband-and-wife duo, now 82 and 81, closed the doors last Friday, bringing to a close a 40-year chapter that began in mid-1980s when they first opened the fish and chip shop in Tāhunanui.
And they’ve been there every day – except Doreen has Mondays off.
“We’ve potted along, we’ve had our ups and downs,” John says. “We have our odd days where it's not worth opening the doors, especially if you get one Monday and you only get four customers.”
But their loyal customer base has kept them going – one customer has been coming in since 1989.
“Everybody’s sad to see us go. A couple of ladies brought us in a box of chocolates and a card,” John says.
The Sloss’, married for 60 years and both born and raised in Nelson, say they didn’t plan on becoming fish and chip shop owners.
“Things sort of didn’t go our way in the earlier life,” recalls John, who spent about 20 years working for Kirby’s as a truck driver.
“I thought, ‘What’s a joker going to do’? We looked at a couple of businesses, but they weren’t viable.”
He then had the idea that “anyone can sell fish and chips”.
“It’s not quite as easy as you think it is, though,” he admits.
The couple first ran the Alton St fish and chip shop for 18 months before hearing about an empty butcher shop on Roto St.
“Somebody suggested we turn it into a fish and chip shop,” John says.
So, they did.
“It was pretty run down, holes in the ceiling, holes in the wall, things like that… so we did it all up. We started with opening at lunch times in those days.”
For a time, the couple delivered fish and chip lunches to Tāhunanui School.
“We picked up a box in the morning, and they had bags in there that they put $2 in. It was $2 for a fish and a half, or a sausage and a half, or a hot dog and a half,” John says.
That service ended when healthy eating initiatives took hold.
“It got to that stage where people said, ‘Oh, the kids can’t eat fish and chips. It’s bad for them all’, so that was knocked off.”
When they first opened, a scoop of chips cost $1 – and so did a piece of fish. And forget about Eftpos payments – it was $1 and $2 notes back then.
John says the price hikes of fish over the years have been “astronomical”, which has been reflected in the increased price of a fish and chip feed.
“Instead of putting things up one dollar a time, I was putting it up 40 cents or 50 cents. The last time I put them up was only about three months ago, and it was a matter of having to, to survive.”
The menu has remained largely unchanged over the years.
“But a lot of stuff we can’t get now, like the scallops and oysters, because they’re just astronomical for price.”
They reckon that fish and chips are still just as popular as ever.
“I think so… you’re not going to get people away from McDonald’s though,” John says, although he admits he has never once been to Maccas for a meal.
And why would you, when you own your own fish and chip shop? Although he admits he enjoyed the occasional KFC meal back in the day.
Every Friday night, they took fish and chips home for dinner after they closed the shop, and over the years their counter collection box raised more than $2000 for the St John ambulance service.
The couple isn’t quite sure what they are going to do with all their free time and say they will miss the shop.
“I’m going to get up in the morning, and I don’t have to do the book work or go into the shop. I can stay in bed a bit longer,” John says.
Although a holiday could be on the cards.
“We haven’t been anywhere for bloody years,” John admits.
And for those wondering where to get their next Friday night feed?
“I had one lady who said, ‘Where am I going to get my fish and chips now?’ I said I’d give her some potatoes, and she can make her own,” laughs Doreen.
