Another empty shop in Penicuik

Another 2 places closed down (supposedly temporarily) with the Chinese Buffet "close until further notice and the Peni Deli shut for "refurbishment". The only positive thing has been the opening of the Allsorts clothing store by the clock tower

This is going to be a renewable energy information and awareness centre, complimented nicely with a coffee shop.

Hi Malc and welcome to the forum.

And another one bites the dust as the retail crisis hits Blockbuster

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-21101215

The cynic in me says that closing a local Blockbuster can only improve the local environment.
Seriously, Blockbuster's main customer base has always been those who were first in line for Sky dishes and with x hundred channels available and DVDs for sale on line at a fiver or less the writing must have been on the wall for at least the last couple of years.The surprise is they survived the switch from VCR to DVD!

Got a message today from my dentist to say that they are moving from the Square down to 16 Bridge Street so I assume they are going to be taking over the Dental Express premises. Anyone know what is happening to them as could not find anything on their website.
UPDATE: had a look at Dental Express and it seems they are concentrating on their Portobello branch so that one is being taken over from later this month and being refurbished ready to re-open in March.
I also noticed that a "to let" sign has finally gone up on the former M&Co unit - it has only been empty for about a year so they must have wondered why there was no rush of people wanting to take it on!

The PeniDeli will be re-opening soon.

And it looks like they are going to run it as a "deli" again as well as a cafe: they're already filling the shelves with stuff - nothing too exotic, mind; just jams and oatcakes and the like.

My understanding is that it's been taken over by a lady who already runs something similar somewhere in the Borders.

Guid luck tae her!

Good news on Blockbuster as people are working in there so I assume someone has taken it over. Nice to see it won't be left empty like the shops down the street! If only all landlords had the sense to charge a decent rent.
Bad news as the Chen's Kitchen buffet has now closed (again) and is up to let....though nobody had the sense to switch the lights off first!

Another Chinese Takeaway closes as the Penicuik Villa (near the Royal Bank) closes down - have we lost the taste for Chinese food or are there just too many takeaways now?
On the positive side, Purves Funeral Services are moving in to the former opticians / fruit shop and a furniture charity are supposed to be taking on the M&Co premises in John Street.
The only bad thing about the Clydesdale Bank being done up is it now makes the neighbouring places look even shabbier and why could the bank not pay for their section with tha cash machine to be painted at the same time - it looks very silly!

Some empty shops going to be filled sometime soon as the former L'Amitie / Gigabite unit is going to be a Mediterranean style restaurant with workmen busy ripping the place to pieces at the moment.
https://planning-applications.midlothian.gov.uk/OnlinePlanning/centralDistribution.do?action=dispatch&caseType=Application&caseNo=13/00399/DPP

The Penicuik Villa unit is supposedly going to become an Indian takeaway - such a new thing for Penicuik! No sign of anything happening at the shoes shop yet as it will need some work done due to the damage caused by water pouring through the roof!
Also not the slighest sign of any progress in the High Street with the former Scotmid units and the butchers still looking derelict along with the old BNC building in the Square which apparently would be cheaper to demolish due to the condition it is in!
I am just waiting for the first "Cash Converters" and Pound shops to arrive to complete the wonderful range of shops with the only positive plans being the arrival of Screwfix to the town.
 

Why bother moaning about the lack of shops? Who are you moaning at? Its market forces, people want to go "out of town" to "Malls" and the like

Penicuik centre needs a massive rethink & modernisation with a focus on niche outlets married with a few major high street names to help capture footfall!
It needs a multi million £ redesign to change its image.
This is never going to happen in our lifetime as the council & landlords just ain't got the cash to spend. Lack of imagination by them & the architects has cost us our town centre - oh, and the yobs that keep trashing what we have got! Maybe Midlothian council should invest in Lottery tickets & some imagination!
I've got ideas but no cash - ideas anyone???

We've all of us had ideas — for years and years.
Several of us argued 10+ years ago that it was time to stop adding further oversized carbuncles of housing to the north-west of the town and try putting them in the Loanstone/Howgate corridor which would at least have dragged the centre of the town closer back to the town centre (if you get my drift!). Didn't have much effect.
The problems are many and various.
Unlike Dalkeith, Bathgate and Haddington, Penicuik is not and never has been the centre of local (county) administration.
Until the late 1950s it was no more than a village which was not allowed by its Town Councillors (who owned the local businesses) to develop as towns like Tranent and Broxburn did.
(Which means that all the equivalent towns in East and West Lothian have a built-in advantage).
When the major developments of the sixties happened there was therefore, nothing in Penicuik which the rush of incomers wanted to do their shopping in.
The town centre development was a disaster. It is shut off from the passing trade and I would bet that if you carried out a survey on traffic at about the Telford Bridge and asked motorists about town centre shops, about 90% would say "what town centre shops?" Location was wrong and layout was also wrong.
All the housing development (with the possible exception of Cornbank) is ideally located to draw people away from Penicuik, a situation reinforced by the proximity of Edinburgh — and still worse, now — Straiton and — even worse again in the last couple of years — Asda.
A £M re-design is exactly what is needed, Lightlevel. Just as long as it doesn't try to "put things back" because it's too late. As Sam Tyler says, better to knock down the BNC building and turn that corner into a public garden (there must be people who would fall over themselves to look after it ).
Perhaps better to knock down a few more buildings, build houses, and accept what is already a fait accompli and was 10 years ago that Straiton is High Street, Midlothian and Penicuik is no more than a suburb.
Sorry, but that's about the size of it now. 

Oh dear somebody is having a laugh! Love the way Edinburgh object to this!

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/anger-at-bid-to-double-size-straiton-retail-park-1-3033976

 

Neal is not wrong. Out-of-town shopping centres are so last century!
The argument would carry more weight if Edinburgh hadn't continued building those centres after that became clear.
They were screaming 'foul' at the last but one expansion of Straiton even as they were considering the application for Ocean Terminal. But then the City Fathers have never been short on hypocrisy in my experience.

What's happening with the Energy Advice Centre in the High Street? Is it ever open?

It does claim to be open from 9 until 3 most days though I don't think I have seen any "customers" actually in there. They have a website registered but no site up yet which is pretty odd as you would expect that to be the first promotional thing to be created. Also have never seen any advertising for it locally and did hear that there were lots of grants available in the "green energy" area so maybe they don't need to make any money?

Another 2 casualties join the "Ghost Town" as the Allsorts clothing shop near the clock tower shuts down (a sign did claim it was "relocating" but no indication where to!) and Salsa's Diner in the Square has also closed.
On the positive side, an application has been made to convert the derelict former BNC premises at 2-4 The Square in to..........you will never guess......an ice cream parlour/hot food takeaway, restaurant and flatted dwelling!

Full details on the planning site here:

https://planning-applications.midlothian.gov.uk/OnlinePlanning/caseFile.do?category=application&caseNo=13/00487/DPP

While it would be nice to see something done to remove this eyesore which hardly makes for a good view as you come in to Penicuik from the south, I am not sure if this is the best idea with all the other food outlets in the town already, most of which are not making millions every day!

A new shop opens all of a sudden! The unit which was previously used by the fishing tackle place is now an electronic cigarette shop which seems to be the new trend as there are several of them in Edinburgh now. At this rate there will be no empty shops left????
 

I see Scotmid have an application for a takeaway in Brian Sibson's old shop. That'll be a novelty. Imagine - a hot food shop in Penicuik. Who would have thought?
 

Anyone know who operates the Green Energy shop in Penicuik and what does it flog?

https://www.facebook.com/GEMidlothian

Seems to be coffee (buy 6 get one free), advice & not much else

Their 'about' section states: "Midlothians Energy Advice Centre. Our aim is to help everyone reduce their fuel costs. Maybe you need to switch supplier? Maybe you can get a government grant for a new boiler or insulation.
Come grab a coffee and see what we can do to help.."

It is a very strange setup as they have that Facebook page but no website yet and there has never been any advertising or publicity for the place. It is as if they do not really want to get much business.
I believe that it is run by BSS Gas Limited (who are now in liquidation according to a notice I saw in the Metro) so who knows what is going to happen now?

  

Another one bites the dust, this time it appears that the Copperbowl at Gowkley as shut with immediate effect

It would be nice if it were replaced by a Toby Carvery but as there is
already one at Liberton I doubt that it will happen