From the heart...
The founders of whynot? (Jenny Potter and Adam Elder) are both makers of handmade products. One jewellery, one furniture. We both love what we do. Jenny has a background in retail management, Adam runs a photographic library. We met through selling our stuff at the wonderful Artisans Fair held in North Berwick. We wanted to be able to sell our products in an environment like the Artisans Fair but on a more regular basis. We love everything that the Fair stands for and the similar markets dotted around the country... the varied items on sale, the chance to meet like minded people and the sense of bringing products to the customer that they hadn't seen before, products that had passion, craft, beauty, honesty and soul. No mass production, no low-quality imports.
A former supermarket in North Berwick had been empty for a long time. Various people have tried various retail ventures here but none have succeeded. It's too big for one shop, the rent is too high for one shop, the rates are too high for one shop and it needed significant internal alterations to be habitable.
So we did an initial back-of-an-envelope business plan and saw that if we could get a large-ish number of people together with similar outlooks to ours to come in with us and fill the place with traders who want to be able to sell on the high street but can't afford or don't want a shop of their own then the idea might be worth pursuing. Unfortunately neither Adam or Jenny had enough money to start the business. But they knew someone who did. They polished up their business plan and showed it to Richard Gregan. Richard loved the idea, saw that the business plan was sound and in exchange for a share in the business put up the funding to make the dream real.
whynot? is now a place that's more than just a mini shopping centre or indoor market. It's a meeting place, its a place to go when it's raining, where the customer can browse 25 shops selling fantastic products from local producers, crafters, artists, artisans and designers. Where the customer can buy locally produced and sourced fruit, vegetables, fish, meat and dairy, bread and cakes.
In the time since opening in 2013 it's reliably estimated that whynot? has generated well over £5 million in the local economy.
Over 400 traders, makers, artists, crafters, charities and community groups have used whynot? to achieve their own aims on terms that suit them.
We've provided the platform for over twenty fledgling businesses to start with us and then strike out and become successful in their own right - moving on to premises of their own and becoming employers not just one-man-bands.
We are passionate that all towns need a thriving high street that the community feels a degree of ownership over. We like the two wee supermarkets, NISA and the Co-Op. We like Greggs the Baker. We like Tesco. We like the charity shops and cafes and restaurants and the pubs. We really like Fisherman's Kitchen (JPs now) and Turnbulls and etc, Sweet News, Earth Matters... we like them all. We love Rock and Bird and the Den, Madame Butterfly, UP Recycling, Dave's Bike shop, Locketts, the galleries, the flower shops, Fingers and Thumbs, Time and Tide, the Penny Farthing, all the great cafes, Great Escape, Heart and Sole, our jewellers. And of course we've got the best butcher a town could wish for. Each of these places has something to like. Sugar Mountain! What's not to like in Sugar Mountain? Apart from the black Sports Mixtures of course.
We see whynot? as a great addition to this list. It brings even more variety and locally produced goods. It brings a full time fishmonger and baker. We've brought the best fruit and veg from local growers, varying with the seasons. whynot? adds to the community and gives people outside of the town yet more reasons to come here.
Galashiels in the Scottish Borders is where the next whynot? opened in May 2019.
If you share even part of our vision please have a look at the rest of the site and our Facebook page. Maybe drop us a note or give us a call to let us know what you think.
whynot?
The founders of whynot? (Jenny Potter and Adam Elder) are both makers of handmade products. One jewellery, one furniture. We both love what we do. Jenny has a background in retail management, Adam runs a photographic library. We met through selling our stuff at the wonderful Artisans Fair held in North Berwick. We wanted to be able to sell our products in an environment like the Artisans Fair but on a more regular basis. We love everything that the Fair stands for and the similar markets dotted around the country... the varied items on sale, the chance to meet like minded people and the sense of bringing products to the customer that they hadn't seen before, products that had passion, craft, beauty, honesty and soul. No mass production, no low-quality imports.
A former supermarket in North Berwick had been empty for a long time. Various people have tried various retail ventures here but none have succeeded. It's too big for one shop, the rent is too high for one shop, the rates are too high for one shop and it needed significant internal alterations to be habitable.
So we did an initial back-of-an-envelope business plan and saw that if we could get a large-ish number of people together with similar outlooks to ours to come in with us and fill the place with traders who want to be able to sell on the high street but can't afford or don't want a shop of their own then the idea might be worth pursuing. Unfortunately neither Adam or Jenny had enough money to start the business. But they knew someone who did. They polished up their business plan and showed it to Richard Gregan. Richard loved the idea, saw that the business plan was sound and in exchange for a share in the business put up the funding to make the dream real.
whynot? is now a place that's more than just a mini shopping centre or indoor market. It's a meeting place, its a place to go when it's raining, where the customer can browse 25 shops selling fantastic products from local producers, crafters, artists, artisans and designers. Where the customer can buy locally produced and sourced fruit, vegetables, fish, meat and dairy, bread and cakes.
In the time since opening in 2013 it's reliably estimated that whynot? has generated well over £5 million in the local economy.
Over 400 traders, makers, artists, crafters, charities and community groups have used whynot? to achieve their own aims on terms that suit them.
We've provided the platform for over twenty fledgling businesses to start with us and then strike out and become successful in their own right - moving on to premises of their own and becoming employers not just one-man-bands.
We are passionate that all towns need a thriving high street that the community feels a degree of ownership over. We like the two wee supermarkets, NISA and the Co-Op. We like Greggs the Baker. We like Tesco. We like the charity shops and cafes and restaurants and the pubs. We really like Fisherman's Kitchen (JPs now) and Turnbulls and etc, Sweet News, Earth Matters... we like them all. We love Rock and Bird and the Den, Madame Butterfly, UP Recycling, Dave's Bike shop, Locketts, the galleries, the flower shops, Fingers and Thumbs, Time and Tide, the Penny Farthing, all the great cafes, Great Escape, Heart and Sole, our jewellers. And of course we've got the best butcher a town could wish for. Each of these places has something to like. Sugar Mountain! What's not to like in Sugar Mountain? Apart from the black Sports Mixtures of course.
We see whynot? as a great addition to this list. It brings even more variety and locally produced goods. It brings a full time fishmonger and baker. We've brought the best fruit and veg from local growers, varying with the seasons. whynot? adds to the community and gives people outside of the town yet more reasons to come here.
Galashiels in the Scottish Borders is where the next whynot? opened in May 2019.
If you share even part of our vision please have a look at the rest of the site and our Facebook page. Maybe drop us a note or give us a call to let us know what you think.
whynot?
