‘It needs to stop’: Rogue 'tartan tat' shops blamed for blighting Princes Street

Pop-up gift shops cluttering pavements face council crackdown

Hello Inquirers,

We know they are a bugbear for many of you. The pop-up gift shops that spread across Princes Street taking up half the pavement and making Scotland’s most famous shopping street feel more like a car boot sale.

For today’s long read, David Forsyth has been talking to some of the street’s long-standing traders who are tearing their hair out at what is happening on their doorstep. He has also been discovering what the city council has planned in response to their complaints.

Before that, however, we have your usual midweek roundup and some ideas for making the most of your weekend.

Your Edinburgh Briefing

BOOK STOP: Waterstones is facing a backlash after confirming plans to open on a prime site near the independent Argonaut Books in Leith. Argonaut owner Adam Barclay says he hopes the high street chain will reconsider its plans to open in a former charity shop in the Newkirkgate Shopping Centre, at the ‘Foot of the Walk’. Waterstones has apologised for failing to contact Argonaut about its plans, saying it hopes it will “complement” its offering, which includes specialising in horror and gaming.

Second chapter: Waterstones previously sparked a storm when it appeared to break its promise not to open any of its unbranded outlets in areas with independent shops. It abandoned its plans to open “the Stockbridge Bookshop” near Golden Hare Books after an outcry in 2018.

END OF A CHAPTER: Mimi’s Bakehouse has announced that it will close its original Leith café on the Shore, which opened in 2010, this Sunday to focus on investing in and building its Edinburgh sites at City Art Centre, Comely Bank, Corstorphine and Lauriston Castle - as well as its online bakery. (You can read about Mimi’s founder Michelle Phillips’ inspiring story in our long read from earlier this year.)

SWITCHING OFF? The Edinburgh TV Festival is considering leaving the city after almost 50 years, amid concerns about the high cost of hotel rooms in the Capital and a lack of working class voices in the industry. Other cities will be asked to bid to host the 2027 festival, which is considered one of the most prestigious annual events in the industry calendar.

HIGH NOTE: Edinburgh International Festival director Nicola Benedetti has secured a coup by securing one of the world’s greatest orchestras, the Berlin Philharmoniker, for two performances at next summer’s closing weekend. The move has been described by critics as a significant return to form after 25 years of “pinchpenny budgets and pen-pushing administrators”.

COUNCIL WORKERS’ BALLOT: Around 100 city council housing department staff are being balloted on industrial action over a tracking system fitted on local authority vehicles. The unite union says the system which monitors the vehicles’ movements and flags up every time they are used more than an hour before or after a shift is open to abuse.

SCRAP YARD FLATS: The owners of Dalton’s Metal Recycling are bringing forward fresh plans to turn their scrap yard in Leith - which famously featured in the Trainspotting 2 film - into student accommodation, build-to-rent homes and commercial space. Dalton’s have notified the city council of its intention to submit a new planning application after its proposals for a 230-bed student flats complex and 30 build to rent homes were rejected earlier this year.

UNI JOBS OFFER: Edinburgh University principal Sir Peter Mathieson has offered to protect staff from compulsory redundancies before July as part of an offer aimed at ending ongoing industrial action. He described the deal as “fair and carefully considered”. The University and College Union has been calling for a commitment to rule out compulsory redundancies entirely as the the university looks to find £140 million in savings.

ROLLERS AND THE DOCTOR: Former Dr Who David Tennant is returning to The Lyceum next month for an intimate An Evening With… 34 years after appearing in its Christmas show Shinda The Magic Ape in one of his first roles after graduating from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Meanwhile, the Operation Mincemeat Musical, a new stage adaptation of Chariot’s of Fire and a new musical inspired by Edinburgh’s own Bay City Rollers are among the highlights of the programme for the King’s Theatre’s reopening next year.

QUEER AND HERE: A FILM and arts festival showcasing LGBTQ+ cinema as well as south and southeast Asian art has kicked off in Edinburgh when Queer East, On The Road 2025 returns for a fourth year. The festival will run between the Cameo at Tollcross and The Filmhouse in Lothian Road until December 11.

GET YOUR MO RUNNING: It’s a weekend of themed running events, kicking off with the Mo-Run half-marathon and fun runs in Holyrood Park on Sunday, which will raise money for the men’s health charity Movember. On Sunday, the Hot Chocolate 5K and 10K at the seafront at Gypsy Brae will reward entrants with a warming drink when they cross the finishing line.

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‘It needs to stop’: Rogue ‘tartan tat’ shops blamed for blighting Princes Street

Pop-up gift shops cluttering pavements face council crackdown

Pavement clutter in Princes Street: Pic Inquirer

“It just looks so tatty. It’s completely spoils the look and experience of our beautiful city centre, it blocks pavements and makes walking along Princes Street less enjoyable. And to top it all off, it is so unfair on the rest of us who live within the rules. It needs to stop.”

The irate, exasperated words of a city centre retailer in Edinburgh’s glorious New Town, a World Heritage Site. The target for their ire? Other retailers, best described as “less permanent,” who are springing up in and around Princes Street.

The issue of short-term, pop-up stores selling inexpensive stock – often of the souvenir variety – has been well documented in the city centre. In recent weeks, local media have highlighted issues around collecting business rates from many of these businesses, some of them in the city’s premier shopping streets, often in spaces awaiting more permanent use or refurbishment.

Now another issue has raised its head – severe pavement clutter. Earlier this year, the Inquirer brought you the news that the city council intended to launch a crackdown on retailers across the capital who break the rules by bringing rails of stock onto the street to sell.

Two officers were to be appointed to identify and deal with those breaking the rules, with an ultimate sanction of stock confiscation and fines of up to £1000 for repeat offenders.