Edinburgh grocery store Tattie Shaws has been put on the market after a variety of factors have made trading increasingly difficult.
Tattie Shaws, located at 35 Elm Row, has been a staple for many for the past 26 years.
Owner James Welby told the Edinburgh Evening News: “At the moment there’s less than 50 people coming through the shop and a multitude of reasons that are now forcing me to sell the shop – Brexit being the catalyst and the tram works being the fuel.
“Before Brexit, produce was picked and on the shelf within five days so you had a shelf life of seven to ten days, but now things are taking so long to get through we’re not getting the same quality that we were three years ago.”
He added: “In 2001 we had 300 people coming through here daily and on Saturdays we would have a £1,500 turnover on this business – I’m lucky if I get £1,500 a week now. Because we had Elliot House office block around the corner, two Standard Life buildings and the Royal Bank of Scotland sorting, there was lots of staff. And having the tram works getting done here for so long, especially the last stage, has definitely taken its toll on people coming into the area – they’ve made other shopping habits or a new route to work.”
Welby told the newspaper that although there is no buyer at present, he expects to close his store in the coming months.
