Another empty shop in Penicuik

Shocked today to see people working in the former L'Amitie / Gigabite and Optimeyes shops! They will have a lot of work to do before L'Amitie can be sold or let again. Hopefully this is the start of some action in that part of the town

Not sure what's going on in there but the new Chinese opposite B&M looks like its opening very soon.

The new Chinese restaurant seems to have come to a halt for the moment (like many other projects) but Hoggs cafe in Lamb's Pend appears to have packed in since they have been closed for a while now with the mail piling up behind the door. With the amount of broken windows in that area I don't blame them especially when the wonderful CCTV never seems to make much difference (despite that fact it is "fully operational" according to the council).

More losses in Penicuik: Hogg's cafe in Lamb's Pend has shut down (former site of the Neuk for many years) and the Pentland Mobility outlet in John Street (next to the factory Shop) has also closed down with a "proposal to strike off" message on the Companies House site and their website down.

Who knows how many more will close?
Please don't listen to Jack A Nory with his tales of Sainsbury / Costa Coffee / Wetherspoons / Co-op / Scotmid etc all coming to the town!!!

Shame about the closures. More empty units that aren't needed.

Scotmid have confirmed that the Co-Operative Food will open in 6 and 8 High Street though. It will probably change. Acquisition teams for both Costa Coffee (Whitbread) and Sainsbury's are looking into empty retail units in Penicuik although I can't see them actually open a store, there's no market for it. All of them have said they'll "keep me updated", which probably means I'll never hear from them again.

So maybe people should listen to Jack A Nory? Personally I've never heard the Wetherston's one but wishful thinking.

Also the Chinese in Kentigern Mall has finally been granted that Building Warrant they were waiting on so hopefully they can proceed and open soon.

T.Scott wrote:

Also the Chinese in Kentigern Mall has finally been granted that Building Warrant they were waiting on so hopefully they can proceed and open soon.

They opened last Monday at Chen's / Chan's Kitchen and seemed pretty busy today when I went past at lunch time.

That's good news. Unfortunately it's like a circle of life; if one shop opens another has to close.

I haven't been down recently to check but I'll try it out soon when the workload lessens.

The Railway Tavern seems to have reopened, but the For Sale sign is still up.
Anyone know what's happening?

Penicuik has had another indirect body blow, by the way. A local business that used to deal with a Glasgow wholesaler got a very polite and very apologetic phone call this week. The Weegie wholesaler used to deal with several local retailers. One by one, they've vanished - so it no longer makes any sense to send a van all the way from Glasgow to Penicuik to supply the last remaining customer.

First the customers desert Penicuik - and now the wholesalers do likewise.

No idea about the Railway but can understand the wholesaler stopping with the fuel costs. I have heard that many tradesmen now don't bother with jobs that are more than a certain distance away since the cost of diesel / petrol would wipe out any profits. many of them refuse jobs in the city due to lack of parking spaces too.
When will there be good news?

rubbereye wrote:

The Railway Tavern seems to have reopened, but the For Sale sign is still up.
Anyone know what's happening?

It turns out that there is a new tenant/licencee in place, but the actual building is still up for sale.

rubbereye wrote:

Would it be the end of the world if Penicuik's empty shops all became - say- Tapas Bars, Polish/ German/ Italian/ North African etc restaurants, and Penicuik gained a reputation as a good place to go to eat out?

I've changed my mind.

Apart from the fact that we just ain't getting the Tapas Bars, Polish/ German/ Italian/ North African etc restaurants (just the same-old-same-old instead); when the next application goes in to convert some shop to yet another eatery, will anyone at the Cooncil ever stop to consider the likely impact on existing local eateries?

Competition's good and healthy, but if too many people are allowed to fish the same small pond....... Soon, nobody will be catching enough fish to make fishing worthwhile. The existing eateries will start to "starve".

The idea that anything to fill the empty shops is good, is in fact mad. It's good for the landlords and it pleases the people who want to put a gloss on the town's appearance, but ultimately, it must start to damage the existing takeaway traders trying to make an honest living by lawfully clogging our arteries.

Give us anything - a massage parlour, a Gay and Lesbian Christian Bookshop - any-freakin'-thing, but please nae mair eateries or hairdressers, eh?

It will be interesting to see how the (hopefully) NEW Midlothian Council deal with applications over the next few months. Will they allow Harrods and Harvey Nicks to open their new stores in Penicuik???

Looks like the fruit shop by the clock tower has closed down - all the blinds down and no signs to say if they are on holiday. Another victim of the supermarkets who want to take over everything - though perhaps the milk price dispute might cause something to happen!

If the fruit shop has indeed closed down it's not the fault of the supermarkets, yes they have dubious methods and will stop at nothing to get folk over the door but they don't force people to use them....

An update on the fruit shop - they have closed the shop but the business is still going with deliveries to local businesses etc which is good to hear. As musicman commented, if people don't use shops then they won't last!

The new cafe in the Square (previously Ben's shop) has now opened and the unit in Bank Street has been fitted out though no indication so far as to what it is going to be so nice to have some positive news for a change. Good luck to all of them

No shortage of properties to buy or let in Penicuik at the moment as they finally put the L'Amitie and opticians units up for sale along with lots of others.
Get the details here:

http://www.shapesproperty.co.uk/property-search~action=detail,pid=104

http://www.shapesproperty.co.uk/property-search~action=detail,pid=62

No sign of the others on their websites yet but will check them later

A new shop has opened in Penicuik (yes you read that correctly - opened!)

Paws for Pets now at 12A Bank Street which was previously Capital Embroidery so good luck to them

Good luck to them, not sure they'll fair any better than previous pet shop attempts but fingers crossed...

Looks like Farmfoods are going to close (or at least move) as their unit is up "to let" at the moment. Rather strange since this shop is one of the few in Penicuik which tends to be busy most of the time - I suppose it could be the usual high rent putting them off. Anyone got any more info?

Hear LJR Properties have sold shopping centre is that correct?
Centre will miss Farm Foods as they did bring in customers.

LJR are selling their properties in Kentigern Mall but to whom, I haven't heard. Farmfoods are staying & are negoiating a new lease with the new owners - so I was told by a member of staff.

I guess some people will not be happy about this article in the Advertiser showing what a state Penicuik's empty shops are in

http://www.midlothianadvertiser.co.uk/news/local-headlines/penicuik-shops-are-not-pretty-vacant-1-2545869

Love the headline!

I am seldom in the town centre and was shocked by what I saw.
The only profitable business seems to be Greggs, which, coincidentally, was where I was going, as I had an irresistible lust for a Greggs sausage roll (actually two). I can confirm that it was worth it, just as I remembered - some things never change. As long as Greggs sausage rolls remain a constant in our lives, there is hope.
Seriously, the state of the shops is due to people like me shopping at Asda on the way back out from town - where's the surprise really?
I'm part of the Penicuik problem, but that's not going to be changed by a sausage roll, as while I was there I popped into one of the chemists and paid double for some over the counter medication, so it's back to Sainsbury.

Telling us something we might just have been aware of!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-20219469