An Elgin business owner is going to open a second store in Elgin while stressing Moray’s biggest town is the perfect place to do business.
Sarah Holmes, who owns seven-year-old stationery store Pencil Me, In has announced she’s going to open a design-led homeware store in Elgin.
The shop will be located on 69 South Street, where Highland Wedding & Events Company was formerly based.
‘Encourage more people to visit’
Mrs Holmes feels Elgin is the ideal spot for opening up new businesses and hopes her new store will attract more visitors to the area.
She said: “The High Street is a little bit dead and is going through a hefty transition, but I want to keep Elgin a nice place to visit.
“I really love shopping and I understand what drives people to go to a particular town. If there’s more shops on the street, then that will encourage more people to visit.
“I think there’s so much opportunity in the whole of Moray for lots of different types of businesses, we’re an hour from Inverness and an hour and a half from Aberdeen.
“It’s always been in the back of my mind to have some sort of store like this.”
Mrs Homes says a lot of their online followers would really like to visit Pencil Me In and thinks another store would give them even more reason to take a trip to Elgin.
She wants to ensure the new homeware store offers something different to bigger branches, including items that may not currently be deliverable to the town.
She said: “You’ve got a fine line of not stocking something you can easily find in either a supermarket or TK Maxx. We work pretty hard to find unique things of good quality.
“We’re going to have very practical things with a utilitarian theme, some gifts as well, and maybe some dried flowers to give it a bit more of a feminine edge.
“I think it’ll make it a bit easier for folk to buy gifts for their friends, sometimes when its something heavy or big, getting it delivered here isn’t an option, so it’s about bringing in things we struggle to buy for ourselves.”
Special meaning for name of new store
The name of her new store will be Seasgair which she has a special meaning behind it.
Mrs Holmes added: “It’s a Gaelic word which means warm, comfortable and cosy, I’ve always loved the word, I came across it ten years ago when I was staying at a holiday home in Argyll.
“When the opportunity came up for the new shop I went ‘that’s what I want to go for.'”
Seasgair is expected to open next month, with the exact date yet to be confirmed.
In the meantime, customers can sign up to Seasgair’s email mailing list on the store’s new website.Â
Mrs Holmes is also encouraging the public to shop local for Mother’s Day with Pencil Me In amongst the stores who are part of the Elgin Gift Card.
Conversation