Kirkcaldy High Street: ‘support our traders’ video sparks thousands of views

It comes on the back of the closure of New Look and Superdrug - the latest big name brands to leave the street.

The owners of grocery store, Plant Foodie - recently renamed from Planet Organica - took to social media platform TikTok to launch a video promoting a range of the businesses at the heart of the High Street.

They ranged from food outlets to kewellery, craft and gift shops, and popular local cafes.

The video was one of a number posted online to promote the store and the town centre, and the response has been hugely supportive.

Owners Paulina and Wiktoria Plota said they have also developed new contacts with neighbouring businesses, and welcomed new customers through their doors.

They were prompted to make the video after scrolling through Facebook commenced on the departure of the big name stores, with many again saying the High Street was ‘dead.’

Paulina said: “We started to take screen shots, and wanted to see if we could do something about it. We need to help change views about the High Street.

“We also wanted to cover the whole of the street - there are a lot of great businesses here.”

Their video has been viewed thousands of times and attracted widespread support online.

It was followed by the publication last week of a new vision document from Love Oor Lang Toun which aimed to show how empty buildings could be transformed - another positive step in shaping the debater on the future look of the town centre.

“I hope it is the beginning of the way forward,” added Paulina. “We have to do something to make people aware that we have so many businesses here.

“The town has some 50,000 people and we need their support - people come in and say they are surprised to see we are here, but we have been here a year come May, sourcing local produce and offering something different you can’t get in supermarket.

“After the video, we saw a number of new people coming into the shop which was very encouraging.”