Home and giftware shop celebrates first year in historic Kirkcaldy building

The small family business on the town’s waterfront, which opened in December last year, is owned by Charlene and Greig Hopcroft.

It was initially launched as an online business in April 2020 and operated from Charlene’s home studio in Kinglassie.

But when the opportunity came up to move into the premises at Merchant House in Kirkcaldy, she couldn’t turn it down.

This weekend marks 12 months since Home of Hopcroft opened in Laws Close and Charlene revealed how they are planning to toast the occasion.

She said: “We have a fun-filled day planned on Sunday for our customers with drinks, nibbles and goodie bags, plus a special hamper giveaway!

"Our first year in the shop has exceeded our expectations in every way! After the initial buzz of opening last December, we were hit with a three month-long lockdown, but our customers have shown us amazing support since day one and since re-opening in April, things have continued to go from strength to strength.

"Opening during a pandemic, on paper sounds a bit crazy - even to me! But to be honest, I have nothing else to compare it with so it just feels like a normal thing to do! If anything, I actually feel like the pandemic has made people realise that small businesses really need their support now, more than ever.”

Charlene is delighted with the progress of the business over the past 12 months and she revealed her plans for the rest of the year: “We hope Home of Hopcroft continues to grow, we are extremely happy with our progress so far.

"Since April, we have taken on three members of staff and have already expanded into a much larger stockroom within The Merchants House. Our plans for 2022 are to listen to what our customers want, to grow our ever expanding product range and develop our brand further.”

She continued: "We are finishing off our event calendar for 2021, with late night shopping on Thursdays until 8.00pm in the run up to Christmas. We are showcasing at Buffalo Farm’s Christmas Market on December 3 and 11, and we have collaborated with our good neighbours at Merchant’s House Cafe for an exclusive Christmas event on Sunday, December 19 where we will be bringing even more festive cheer!”

She added: “The huge efforts being put into the regeneration of Kirkcaldy’s waterfront will benefit us in many ways.

“We are right in the heart of this beautiful location and want to see it thrive.

"The Merchants’ Quarter end of the town is a vibrant and buzzing little hub and we love being here…I think that our efforts along with of the other independent businesses have all played a part to regenerate the area and it’s looking great.

"It has really turned into a destination to visit and we are very proud to be a part of it.”

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