Popular retailer Poundland are set to open up their permanent Elgin High Street home.
On Saturday, the prominent and popular business will open their store inside a new custom-building with four new flats on the upper floors.
This major regeneration project, which has taken about six years, has faced many challenges including a major fire and the Covid pandemic.
In the meantime, Poundland has had a temporary base in Elgin next to the town’s TK Maxx store.
In October, we exclusively revealed the opening date of their permanent Elgin home.
Meanwhile, earlier this year we got to go inside the building as the transformation was taking place.
Now the Press and Journal has been given exclusive access to go inside the new store before it opens to the public on Saturday.
This is what the new Elgin store looks like as it takes shape.
Take a look around the Elgin Poundland store
It is the only property the retailer owns outright in the UK.
In early August, North Street was reopened after being closed for years to allow construction firm Morgan Sindall to safely reconstruct the Poundland building.
The B-listed building opened as the A&W Reid bank in 1856.
It is most fondly remembered in Elgin as the former home of Woolworths.
‘It feels like returning home’
For Elgin Poundland manager Gerry McAloon, the retailer returning to the High Street feel likes “returning home”.
He was previously the manager of Woolworths in Elgin from 1993 until 2008 when the firm fell into administration and all their stores closed.
Gerry said: “Coming back to the High Street is like coming home.
“The building has a great sentimental value to me.
“I live in New Elgin and I was used to walking to work for around 31 years in Woolworth and Poundland so it is great to be back.”
‘Awareness about store’
The new store is nearly twice the size, stocking a range of clothing and homeware as well as chilled and frozen food.
Gerry believes being on the High Street again also helps with store awareness.
He added: “Being at Thunderton Place was great and kept us in Elgin.
“However at times, we found there were people coming up to North Street from the bus seeing the barriers up and assuming Poundland was closed.
“We even had a customer as recently as August asking when did you open here on Thunderton Place, and we had been there for two years.
“This will raise awareness about the store being on the High Street and show Poundland is back.
‘Commitment to Elgin High Street’
Watch Jason Hedges’ video tour as shelves start to be filled:
Gerry praised Poundland’s commitment to the Elgin High Street.
He added: “A lot of retailers would have walked away from the project.
“They have made a fantastic job with the detail of the building.
“They also kept us in our jobs and got us to work in the Inverness store before the shop opened at Thunderton Place.”
The temporary store on Thunderton Place will close on Friday before its return to the High Street.
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