The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Stalwart sweet shop to weigh final quarter
Traditional store ‘no longer viable’ after decades in trade
The last quarter will soon be weighed in an old-fashioned confectionery shop loved by generations.
Burns Sweet Shop in St Andrews is to close because its owners say the traditional store is no longer viable.
Townspeople and visitors who heard the news shared childhood memories of spending their pocket money on goodies, including salted liquorice and sherbet pips.
Owner Nicola Hazel, whose parents bought the shop in the 1970s, said its sad demise was a sign of the times.
She thinks the Market Street shop must be 60 to 70 years old and was previously known as EG & JD Burns, and before that, Boyd’s.
Confirming the closure, she said: “This has been a really difficult decision to make. Burns has been a big part of St Andrews for many years and I know that many customers will, like me, remember spending their pocket money on sweeties in the shop.
“My father took over Burns with my late mother and she really nurtured the shop – it was very much her baby so, of course, it’s particularly emotional for us.
“Sadly it’s just not possible to sustain the shop as it is and I’d like to extend my earnest thanks to all our customers over the years.”
Messages have flooded in from customers past and present who went to Burns as children and then brought their own children and grandchildren.
Nicola added: “Everyone has said how sad it is. It’s the end of an era.”
Nicola and husband Owen also own Jannetta Gelateria in South Street, which, she said, continues to thrive.
It was opened by her greatgrandfather Bennett Jannetta as a soda parlour and tobacconist in 1908.
Her parents David and Fiona De Angelis expanded the range of ice cream flavours in the late 1960s and 1970s and transformed the shop into a modern Italian gelateria.