Penicuik's 99p store.

Okay, it wasn't exactly Harrods, but it contribited at least a little to the commercial life of the High Street.

The company that owns it is packing it all in. The Penicuik store, along with 18 others dotted about the country, closes for good tomorrow. Just as the High Street was beginning to lose its ghost town look, another empty shop appears.


Edited bit.

Of course, it also means that some local jobs are about to vanish. I always found the staff there unusually pleasant and helpful. So, if by chance any of them read this, I wish you all the best for the future and hope you find alternatve employment quickly. And thanks for the pleasant helpfulness!

Have to agree about the staff there. It was rather disconcerting at first to have friendly retail staff (you get so used to the unsmiling, grunting variety who seem aggreived that you have dared to want to purchase something!) but a nice change.
I hope the premises are taken over soon as that part of High Street does not look great now. The empty Storehouse and Clydesdale Bank units plus Ben's, the former cafe and BNC Autoparts in the Square meaning for the south end of Penicuik "This town, is coming like a ghost town"

Good luck to all the former staff

Some GOOD news for a change - it appears the 99p shop is being taken over by Poundmania as they are busy working in there at the moment. I know that means that prices will go up by 1p but at least it means one less empty shop in Penicuik

I heard the same thing today as well. I was also told that there was a sign in the pet shop saying that it would reopen and that there is hope that someone will be using the RS McColl shop.

Apparently the previous management of the pet shop have taken over the lease and are going to run it as an independent pet shop. Hopefully it should do well, as there must be many families in Penicuik with young children and a multitude of pets, as there is almost nothing else for them to do! I suppose the new swimming pool has been a major step in the right direction, but moving the YMCA out of easy reach was probably not.

Fairly typical reply there, ironlung. One of the Penicuik Whingers, obviously.
What exactly is it that Penicuik doesn't have at the moment that might interest young children?
I cannot see the new pet shop surviving. If a chain can't make a go of it then I don't see how an independent that doesn't have the buying power can hope to compete.
McColls (according to reports) is likely to be split into two units. Their area manager was planning to open a newsagent himself but the landlords (NOT the developers that own the new shops but the local private ones that own the other side!) dragged their heels and by the time they finally got back to him, Somerfield had signed up for PayPoint and other extras that he would have needed to make it pay.
Sometimes it's the local people that are their own worst enemy.
Good news is Lidl WILL be coming.

You seem to have a good source of information Septic Sam, where do you find it? I see you've posted some other interesting gen about the proposed housing elsewhere on this forum. I can find out hardly anything from the Council site - perhaps I'm looking in the wrong places!

Ironlung wrote:

You seem to have a good source of information Septic Sam, where do you find it? I see you've posted some other interesting gen about the proposed housing elsewhere on this forum. I can find out hardly anything from the Council site - perhaps I'm looking in the wrong places!

It's called keeping your eye and ears open and knowing who to ask.
Keeping your eyes properly open would tell you that the word is S-K-E-P-T-I-C

Skeptic by name - septic by nature, apparently.

It is now open again as Poundmania but still got the "99p store" signs outside which might cause them a few problems.
It makes a nice change to see a shop OPENING in Penicuik!