Halifax’s Acapulco nightclub sells famous carpet for charity

theguardian.com:

A nightclub famous for its sticky carpet has sold dozens of souvenir chunks of the fabric after a joke “snowballed” into a must-have memento.

The Acapulco has been a fixture of Halifax nightlife for decades and thousands of punters have become attached to its garishly patterned carpet.

The club, which claims to be the oldest in Britain, opened in 1961 and laid the colourful floor covering – which quickly become a local fixture itself – in 2003.

Simon Jackson, the owner of the “the Acca” as it is widely known in West Yorkshire, said his carpet had been unfairly maligned but insisted its reputation could be used for good.

The idea to sell it off started as a “tongue-in-cheek joke” between friends but quickly “snowballed” as word got out, he said.

Within an hour on Wednesday afternoon, the club had sold more than 100 pieces of its carpet as people clambered for a piece of local history.

“It’s gone really, really mental,” said Jackson. “We thought we would be chucking most of it but we’ve had to pull some bits out of the skip, if I’m honest. It’s going great guns.”

For only £5, customers can own an A4-sized slice of the 19-year-old fabric. Those with a particularly special connection to it can take home a framed and engraved piece for £50.

Punters can even order a piece of carpet from a specific place in the club, including outside the toilet, below the bar or the well-worn fray at the edge of the dancefloor.

Proceeds from the sale will go to the local Street Angels charity, which carries out night-time patrols in Halifax to check on the welfare of drinkers.

Jackson, 55, said he had been inundated with emails from patrons who have a special connection to a specific part of the Acca.

One person got in touch to say they had scattered