A businessman who “followed his passion” to open a trainers shop in Dundee will close Trend XY next month.
Ozkan Sayan, 45, said the Whitehall Crescent boutique offered an alternative to Nike and Adidas.
He imported all the stock from Turkey, which he said has some of the highest quality of textile manufacturing in the world.
After opening a year ago, he said business has been tough – but he is not giving up his dream of having a city centre shop.
He will rebrand the premises to be a mobile phone repair shop, from June 1.
‘Dundee didn’t need another shoe shop’
Ozkan said the shop had received a lot of visits from tourists, but hadn’t received the same support from locals in Dundee.
He said: “Business is not great to be honest. I now think that Dundee didn’t need another shoe shop.
“Most of my customers have been tourists, I didn’t have enough support from the locals.
“I’ve had some repeat customers which is good but it’s not enough to keep going. It’s been tough.
“These are high end shoes but it’s been hard bringing people down from the Overgate.
“Young people seem to have no interest at all.
“But opening this shop was my passion and I wanted to try it to see if it worked.”
Dundee trainers shop cuts prices to £30
The owner said that not having half sizes in the shoes was another mistake which meant he’d lost a lot of customers. Not having a website also impacted sales.
Initially he was selling his colourful range of trainers from £60 to £150.
But now all the shoes have been reduced to £30 as he tries to clear as much stock as possible.
He adds: “Dundee is a nice city, with nice people but with this economy it’s not gone well for me.
“I wish more people would want to come to town more often.
“The car parking is too high – shops need to be supported or they’ll close.”
From feet to phones
But despite not finding success as a trainers shop, Ozkan said he was hopeful about the future of Dundee.
He said his location, close to V&A Dundee, means he wants to give another retail concept a try.
Ozkan previously ran a mobile phone repair and accessories shop in Forfar and will now try something similar in Dundee.
The new shop will be called Prime Tech and will also buy and sell mobile phones.
He adds: “There’s a future in Dundee and I don’t want to leave or quit.
“The location is really good and I want to try again.”
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