The owners of a popular Aberdeen sweet shop have announced they are leaving the city and will be moving the business online.
Wowzie, whose candy-coloured pink and white frontage makes it stand out on St Andrew Street, will make a new home in Aberdeenshire before the end of March.
The business has blamed the loss of the John Lewis department store – an anchor unit for so many nearby retailers – for a reduction in trade.
And owners say the impact of council decision – such as the introduction of bus gates – has cost them even more customers.
Fearing shop units in the city centre are now simply out of reach, they intend to create a packaging unit in Aberdeenshire from where they will continue to trade online.
The decision to close the store was announced in a post on the store’s Facebook page this evening.
It reads: “Retail shopping has changed with most purchases now being made online.
“Locally in our area, the loss of John Lewis has impacted footfall.
“In the city centre, the low emission zone and bus gates cause so much confusion among drivers that a lot of people avoid driving in town.
“The general opinion from our customers who now shop online is that it is easier to avoid the city centre than attempt to navigate it.”
Sweet shop owners left with no choice but to close store
Wowzie finds itself in a challenging spot for attracting footfall, but the sweet shop says a move to a more profitable location doesn’t appear feasible.
The owners said: “We have always kept our prices as low as we can.
“We have priced other units, but the overheads don’t make moving an easy option as prices would have to increase significantly to cover rent, rates and utilities.”
They noted that a presence in one of the city’s shopping centres six years ago – a stall – cost £550 a week to rent.
“The stall had to be manned during centre hours and sweets don’t sell much in the morning, so staff costs were extremely high”, they said.
“We dread to think what the actual cost of a unit in one of the shopping centres would be.
“It’s just not possible for small local businesses without extortionate pricing.”
St Andrew Street confectionary specialists to close down store
The business finished its statement by thanking its customers for years of loyalty.
“We are truly humbled by the outpouring of support we have had for our wee business and we are equally sad that things have to now change,” they said.
“However, we don’t want to risk ‘hanging on’ and then find ourselves in a loss situation financially.
“We are bowing out from the shop side while we are in a secure position.
“We shall miss the chats more than anything else and all the lovely friendships that we have made…. but we do need to change things.
“If online doesn’t work then it doesn’t work – it won’t be for the sake of trying that’s for sure!”
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