Fresh Ideas Spell Success at Grandtully Bridge Galleries

Archive Sections
	General News
	Local Groups' Activities
	Business & Finance
	Property Pointers
	Travel & Getaway
	Health & Wellbeing
	Art, Media & Craft
	Music / Performance
	Event Reviews
	Wildlife/Environment
	Sporting Activities
	Horticulture
	Hoots and Havers
	Guest Columns
	Useful Links
	Comment Online

Fresh Ideas Spell Success at Grandtully Bridge Galleries

After a year of bustling activity, Grandtully Bridge Galleries believes it has reached its first milestone of creating three new businesses that bring something fresh to Highland Perthshire and make Grandtully a regular haunt for locals and visitors to the area.

“When we opened at the end of last year we invested a lot in making the Lòchrann Arts showrooms and Legends Coffee House snug and inviting,” said director Peter Hounam. “It has paid off because people keep coming back, and they come from farther and farther afield.

“With no other shops around us we have to give people a strong reason to stop. The ambiance we have created is one factor, and the other is the quality of what we offer. We reckon Legends provides the best coffee in this area and the hand made chocolates we make on the premises have a devoted following.”

Chocolatier Strathtay’s reputation is growing steadily and next year chocolatier Iain Burnett will begin marketing a new range of chocolates on the internet. “We have the capacity to sell to a much wider customer base and a web presence is essential,” he said.

“I am also developing our chocolate wedding cake range and plans are afoot for a new project that will greatly boost visitor numbers some time next year. It is under wraps until we have perfected the idea.”

Iain’s wife Rachel runs Lòchrann Arts and she is delighted at the number of regular customers who come by. As with many businesses in the area, October has been a busy month and she has now doubled the space devoted to gifts, limited edition prints and fashions.

“We used to sell some antiques in part of our front showrooms and this was going well,” Rachel (pictured) said, “but gifts of all types are a better fit for what we are trying to achieve. The new showroom space means we can give people a much bigger choice.

Successful Formula
“We try to provide a mix that has flair, humour and style. People are always on the look out for new ideas and we try to provide a selection of the best, not only from Scotland but the rest of the world. We feel we now have a very successful formula although it is a time-consuming business sourcing everything.”

With Christmas coming up, Grandtully Bridge Galleries is gearing up for an even busier time. A new departure this year are attractive, lined hampers in three sizes, packed with goodies from Chocolatier Strathtay and Legends which can be delivered anywhere in the UK.

The front gift showrooms will be open late until 8pm every Thursday evening from 29 November until Christmas. Customers will be served free, hot, spiced punch to make the shopping experience even warmer.

The showrooms will also be open late on December 21 and December 22 for last minute buyers. On Sunday 23rd and Monday 24th, Christmas Eve, they will be open as usual until 5pm along with Legends Coffee House and Chocolatier Strathtay. The businesses will close for their annual shutdown on 14 January but will be open again well in time for Valentine’s Day.