Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

The last day of a long and challenging year will see the doors close to two long-standing Kirkcaldy town centre businesses, leaving behind empty buildings, a sense of loss, and worrying question mark over what happens next.

The fact the Indoor Market and the Pet Shop sit either side of the already vacant former Wilkies’ store also elongates the empty stretch that runs from the edge of the pedestrianised zone to the entrance to the east end. It starts with the former Clydesdale Bank which has been allowed to sit in a state of neglect for too long, and takes in the once busy Greggs. Now it will extend along to the Pet Shop which closes its doors on Hogmanay after 67 years of trading.

Next door, Wilkies has already gone - its shop floor a mess of discarded shelving and boxes, its windows covered in closing down posters that are already out of date - and on to Kirkcaldy Indoor Market which also closes on December 30 after more than three decades of trade.

It's a long time since Woolworth occupied this building at the gateway to the east end of the High Street ... but not a lot has changed at first glance.
The frontage is unmistakably Woollies!
Inside, of course, it is Kirkcaldy Indoor Market — It's a long time since Woolworth occupied this building at the gateway to the east end of the High Street ... but not a lot has changed at first glance. The frontage is unmistakably Woollies! Inside, of course, it is Kirkcaldy Indoor Market

The indoor market still looks like the Woolworth store it was more than two generations ago - that speaks volumes for how little has been invested in it over the decades - and it is difficult to see how a unit so big, but in need so much refurbishment, can appeal in the current market. It occupies a prime town centre site - but the definition of ‘prime’ has changed.

It could make a great leisure venue, whether that’s an indoor roller rink or tenpin alley, but the investment required would be huge, and there are already substantial buildings sitting empty on the High Street - M&S and BhS are just two which spring to mind. Debenhams, WHSmith, and New Look are all in need of new life, but it is unlikely to be high end retailing that moves in, if anyone does.

Wilkies - a rabbit warren of corridors, stairs, nooks and crannies - doesn’t fit the demands of today’s businesses, so could its future be residential? We cannot allow more buildings to be left locked up and empty , but the reality is there is little we can do to avoid such a fate.

Final days as long-standing Kirkcaldy businesses set to close for good