\n It was announced this week that Strawberry Corner Garden Centre had now entered liquidation after 32 years in Wallyford, due to \u201ccrippling\u201d rising costs and \u201cconstant roadworks\u201d, owners said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Billy Bussell and his late brother Alan opened the doors of the garden centre in May 1994 and it has remained in the family ever since.\n<\/p>\n
\n The unexpected news has been met with disappointment, particularly in the local community, which the owners supported year in and year out.\n<\/p>\n
\n As well as hosting a popular Santa\u2019s grotto for children, Strawberry Corner donated the village\u2019s Christmas tree to Wallyford Community Council every year.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ann Patton, chair of the group, thanked the family, calling it \u201ca sad day\u201d for local residents to hear that the much-loved business had closed.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: \u201cIt\u2019s a massive loss to the community, absolutely devastating.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201c[They were] a family business and they very much support the community as much as they possibly could.”\n<\/p>\n
\n She added that the family did not ask for praise or recognition, instead working to benefit the local area \u201cquietly\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n Paying tribute to the shop as \u201cintrinsic\u201d to Wallyford, ward councillor Lee-Anne Menzies has called on people to support their local businesses.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said that when she had spoken to owners, they all said the same thing \u2013 that costs of running a business had \u201cshot through the roof\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n She told the Courier: \u201cUnfortunately, I think it’s the times we’re living in.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIf there was one thing I could say to everybody, it\u2019s that the thing to prevent this is us all shopping local.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cUltimately, if we know somewhere exists and we shop there, then we are going some way towards making sure that that business is sustainable.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cOtherwise, it’s horrible, but we need to stop moaning when this happens.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAnd I don’t want us to stop moaning when this happens, I want us to moan and shout and really be upset about it: upset enough to change our behaviours.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cA couple of shops a year doesn’t sound a lot, but if we’re all doing that, that’s a sustainable business.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Menzies described the garden centre as a \u201cgodsend\u201d for families, including her own, as she thanked the business owners\u2019 contributions to the community over three decades.\n<\/p>\n
\n She added: \u201cThe people that are losing their jobs just going into the new year, my heart goes out to them all.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Meanwhile, fellow ward councillor Colin McGinn was \u201creally disappointed on a number of levels\u201d by the news.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: \u201cFirst of all, as a regular customer for years and years, that local and friendly service, on the doorstep \u2013 it\u2019s a real shame to be losing that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n The announcement seemed like it came \u201cout of the blue\u201d, he said, and was the first time he had heard of any difficulties.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr McGinn added that, while he knew that issues with roadworks were cited as one of the reasons for the closure, it had not been brought to his attention as a local member that there was a problem, and he said he would have hoped that those behind the business would reach out to economic development if support were required.\n<\/p>\n
\n He also referred to growth in the area, both in Wallyford and nearby Prestonpans, which he \u201choped would have served them well\u201d, adding that when he visited, the business \u201cseemed to be thriving\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: \u201cIt appears there\u2019s obviously stuff going on in the background that we\u2019re not aware of that\u2019s made them reach this decision, but it\u2019s a real shame.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cFamily-run, good local businesses are few and far between. It\u2019s a real pity to lose one like this.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cYou know you\u2019re getting good quality and everybody knows that the advice you\u2019re getting is first class as well.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI think in some aspects, we thought it would be passed down the generations.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s a real shame for the family, for the business and for the community.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Ward councillor Fiona Dugdale was similarly \u201cshocked to hear the sad news\u201d about the much-loved business.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: \u201cIt has been part of the community for such a long time and will be sorely missed.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThis must be a difficult time for everyone who set up and developed this valued business, and I am sending my best wishes to them all for the future.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n A spokesperson for East Lothian Council said: “We are sorry to learn that this valued local business is closing.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe Business Gateway East Lothian service is available to support businesses at all stages, including support and advice during difficult times.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was announced this week that Strawberry Corner Garden Centre had now entered liquidation after 32 years in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-701000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115907671052516996","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}