News / Bert blames EU for store closure
BRUCEFIELD Stores owner Bert Anderson has blamed the European Commission for the closure of his small shop in Lerwick.
Anderson said on Tuesday the shop on Lerwick’s Thorfinn Street would close at the end of February.
He said the arrival of Tesco and its cheap prices had not helped, but the biggest impact on his business had come from the restrictions placed on local fishermen.
Anderson’s family have run the business for the past 35 years, employing 38 people in three stores at its peak.
He currently employs 11 people, but will lose one full time and six part time members of staff, retaining one part time and three full time employees.
The mainstay of their trade comes from supplying boats in Lerwick harbour with groceries and duty free liquor, a service which allowed them to maintain a wider range of goods than normal for a shop of that size tucked away on a Lerwick side street.
For the past two years since the arrival of Tesco the supplies side of the business has subsidised the shop.
Now with fishing boats tied up at the pier for half of every month there has been insufficient trade to support the shop as well as the supplies and duty free service.
“I absolutely blame the EU because they have hammered these boats so much. If you get six boats in for provisions it keeps all the girls busy and you get a few customers coming in and everyone is happy.
“But when you get a reduction in the number of fishing vessels and they’re tied up for two weeks every month then you are in a different situation.”
He added that Tesco had hit them hard, but you could not blame people for going for the cheapest prices during tough economic times.
Anderson will maintain the supplies business and convert the Thorfinn Street premises, that used to be the knitwear factory Thuleknit, into a duty free warehouse.
“The duty free business is very buoyant supplying everybody, the oil industry, fishing boats and also sometimes yachts from Norway,” he said.
He feels sorry for his staff, his older customers and the Anderson High School pupils who will miss the shop when it goes.
Last month another Lerwick business blamed the arrival of Tesco for their decision to close its doors.
Malcolmson’s Bakery is to shut next month after 160 years with the loss of 15 jobs.
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