Any time is Wimpy time in Aberdeen! Or so we were told back in the ’60s when Wimpy’s empire exploded across the north-east of Scotland and beyond.
These days, a Wimpy bar is a rare sight having been pushed out of the convenience food market by McDonalds and Burger King.
But the firm still exists to and has been marking its 70th anniversary this month.
Wimpy first came to the UK in 1954, and 10 years later the Fraserburgh branch opened – now the oldest branch in Scotland.
Aberdeen’s first Wimpy store opened its doors on Bridge Street in the summer of 1963, bringing a taste of American fast food to the city.
It was a roaring success as people chomped down on delicacies including the Wimpy Brunch, the Bender Brunch, all washed down with a classic ice cream float.
Wimpy first came to Aberdeen in 1964
The restaurant was so popular, that it expanded into its basement, and the following summer Wimpy opened a second branch on Loch Street.
The opening of the Loch Street branch was heralded as “good news for Aberdeen’s student population” due to its proximity to the university, the new ‘tech’, the College of Education, Robert Gordon’s College and Aberdeen Academy.
In fact it was billed as a modern concept of the school “tuck shop”. If your idea of a breaktime snack is burgers, eggs and fried potatoes.
The opening advert said the new Wimpy would be a “boon” in such a busy shopping area near George Street, and would open from 9am-11pm.
It said it would provide “a quick, but satisfying, inexpensive, nourishing meal”.
And for afters you could try Wimpy’s “soft, snowy ice cream”.
Wimpy said the location of this branch would be particularly appealing to the bored husbands of Aberdeen who found their wives’ shopping trips unbearable.
“When wifey disappears into the shop, adjourn to the Wimpy. If Jack next door or Jimmy across the street are also to be in town on pack-horse duty, make it a threesome, or moresome”, the advert added.
It was to be the epitome of cool, and claimed to be “quite the place for chicks and chaps”.
Fraserburgh branch last Wimpy standing in north-east
With their rampant restaurant run continuing, Fraserburgh was the next Wimpy to open its doors in the north-east in 1964.
And 60 years on, it’s the only branch left in the area, and one of only three left in Scotland.
A branch opened on the corner of Hanover Street and Manse Street in July that year, near the town’s new bus station.
It was designed to be a bit more subtle than the usual shiny, glass-fronted American diner inspired get-up.
Instead the Broch branch was faced in freestone granite with imitation marble.
And inside Fraserburgh’s Wimpy, “the warmth of decor” was said to be “very easy on the eye”.
The upholstery as many people will remember was in Wimpy’s signature pillarbox red.
Wimpy bar brought a ‘big city’ look to Peterhead
Proving there was an appetite for Wimpy in Buchan, the proprietor in Fraserburgh, Mr McDonald, opened a branch in Peterhead three years later.
The new Wimpy bar on Marischal Street debuted “the city look” with wall panels in colours of ‘flamingo’ and ‘chestnut’ alternating with copper murals.
The copper-based murals depicted Peterhead as it was 200 years before when it was a port for whaling in the Arctic.
Mr McDonald said: “I wanted to break away from the clinical look of the Fraserburgh one and so chose royal blue for the Wedgwood pattern on the table tiles.”
The seats were upholstered in black complementing a grey floor to finish off “the big city look”.
It was hoped the Peterhead store build on the success of the Fraserburgh branch where ‘carry-outs’ proved particularly popular with residents, workers and travellers.
Wimpy brought international flavour to Inverness
In 1968, Inverness welcomed its own Wimpy bar which threw open its doors at 12 Church Street under the auspices of franchisee Bob Stewart.
Diners were promised “a sizzling meal in dishy surroundings” at the new restaurant which stood on the site of the former Northern Meeting Rooms.
Upon opening it was said the chain was “virtually in the heart of Inverness, ideally placed for mothers out shopping who want a coffee and a snack, or for the local businessman needing a good, satisfying lunch”.
In fact it said lunches were served at any time during the opening hours, unlike other eateries with restricted hours.
As well as the expected meaty offerings, Mr Stewart added “delicacies” to his menu including flapjacks, brown derbies doughring – a concoction of ice cream, butterscotch and flaked almonds.
The decor was described as “subdued but luxurious” with wood and cork walls and a mirrored wall on one side.
Branches continued to open until 1993
A Wimpy bar first opened at 165 High Street in Elgin, bringing a taste of America to Moray.
Residents lapped up benders, ice cream floats, knickerbocker glories and banana splits.
Word spread and a branch also opened in Dingwall, continuing Wimpy’s new fast food dominance.
The Dingwall Wimpy bar still exists and carries on the chain’s tradition of table service and cutlery with its burgers.
And there was a successful bid to open a Wimpy bar in Inverurie in 1993 when a restaurant opened on Market Place.
Although within 10 years it was replaced by an Ashvale chipper, which is still pulling in the punters today.
In Aberdeen, most people will be familiar with the branch which opened in Aberdeen’s Union Street in the former Watt and Grant premises.
The £250,000 Union Street Wimpy bar opened in 1983 with capacity for 90 customers.
But it courted controversy by allowing takeaway burgers without a licence and quickly received a carry-out ban from the city council.
However, it didn’t stop Wimpy’s north-east domination and yet another Aberdeen Wimpy bar opened in the city in 1987.
This time it took up residence on the corner of George Street and Upperkirkgate.
The branch opened despite huge objections from Brodero – the firm behind the proposed Bon Accord Centre development.
Fraserburgh is last bastion of Wimpy in north-east
But eventually, the bubble burst for Wimpy, it simply could not compete with the other fast food giants.
It went from around 300 branches to the 63 in Britain today.
Wimpy’s original Aberdeen branch on Bridge Street closed in 1980.
The Peterhead branch closed in October 2014, but still clung on longer than the Wimpy bars in Aberdeen city centre.
The last Wimpy to stay open in Aberdeen was the restaurant at Sunset Boulevard and Aberdeen Beach, but it too closed in 2014.
Fraserburgh is the last bastion of Wimpy in the north-east, something franchisee Amjad Shahzad is proud of.
Speaking to The Press and Journal in 2022, he said he saw a great opportunity in the Fraserburgh branch when he took it over in 2015.
A makeover in 2023 putting a nostalgic twist on the fast food icon, ditching the yellow for red.
And the Fraserburgh Wimpy remains a mainstay of the community – and somewhat of a mecca for fast food fans who travel hundreds of miles to sample its wares.
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