Antiques dealer’s new King Street site
Latest shop to buck the trend
Another business has opened in Crieff’s King Street.
While high streets around the country have seen shops closing, King Street has seen a boom in businesses opening since the pandemic began – and now King Street Antiques is joining the line-up.
Proprietor Nick Brewster, who has previously had an online presence selling antiques, said he felt opening at number 78 was the logical thing to do.
He told the Herald: “I knew I wanted to do this. I have been doing quite a bit online but it had reached a stage where it was at a level and the only way to move forward was to get a shop.
“I looked at the High Street but it just doesn’t work for a small business. You can’t park to stock up for one thing.
“There doesn’t seem to be many empty shops left in King Street. The trade seems to be moving downhill. It’s no bad thing.
“It’s just a shame for the High Street, which would be fantastic if they sorted out the parking and maybe had a uniformity of shop fronts, which would make the whole place more attractive and, I think, make people consider it more as a place to have a business.
“I opened just before Christmas. It’s been quietish but that’s understandable given what we have been through.”
Nick’s appetite for antiques comes from his father who was a dealer in Glasgow running Muirhead, Moffat & Co – the oldest antique dealers in Scotland.
When Nick finished school he worked for Christie’s and then for the Fine Art
Society.
He spent a few years dabbling with classic cars before coming back to dealing himself.
Nick’s antiques are laid out over two rooms.
He scours the country for antique Scottish items, earlier than 1940, as well as 20th century Scottish art, and tools, which have been restored locally.
He said: “I’ve laid out the shop so that people can visualise the items in their own homes. If you are selling antiques that you want to talk to them about, piling them high doesn’t work.
“Everything is earlier than 1940. There will be the odd thing that will scrape through because it is really nice quality.
“I have been getting visitors coming in but people have been coming specifically to see me looking for antiques that have seen me online. There’s no-one really doing this kind of thing for about 35 miles in any direction.
“I think Crieff needs businesses that bring people in.
“Every business has its place but I like to think that we can attract people to Crieff and, in an ideal world, another dealer then thinks ‘that’s working in Crieff’ so opens as well and then we become more of a draw.”
There’s no-one really doing this kind of thing for about 35 miles in any direction. Nick Brewster