A pair of Alyth newcomers are set to open a shop just weeks after making the move to Perthshire.
Partners Aileen Liddell, 57, and John Black, 58, only sealed the move to Alyth at the end of June, but when walking through the village saw the perfect location for their already-established business.
The couple – who are originally from Torphichen in West Lothian – hopes Burntout, which sells items such as candles, incense, arts and crafts, will bring something new to Alyth’s Mill Street.
New shop owner decided to ‘just go for it’
Aileen told The Courier: “John was medically retired in 2017 and we got him a candle kit as he loved them.
“He loved the process of making the candle, so started doing a bit of research and trying different things.
“During Covid, all services stopped for our daughter Kat – who has learning and physical disabilities – so we got her involved in making diffusers and rooms mists to keep her occupied.
“She now makes cards as she loves arts and crafts and I make the diffusers.
“We came up to Alyth to view a property as we wanted to move up north and fell in love with it.
“When we wondered around Alyth, we saw the ‘to lease’ sign in a window.
“We called to see it and it’s perfect for what we were looking for.
“Getting the shop was a bit of a ‘let’s just go for it’ moment.
“Our new house has a massive garage, but now we have a shop we won’t have to stock everything in it.”
As well as candles, the shop will sell body washes, soaps, and car fresheners.
It will also stock products from other small businesses throughout Scotland.
Burntout’s range includes products named after classic Scottish slang phrases.
Aileen added: “Friends would come in to our house and smell them and go ‘that’s banging’ so we decided to make that our USP.
“The scents are tied into the names – we have one called ‘taps aff’, and it smells like sun cream.
“We want to progress a little and get some Dundonian phrases in though.
“Hopefully we’ll be open on Saturday in time for Alyth Show – it’s been really exciting so far.”
