It’s a very happy 10th anniversary for The Penicuik Store house, a community-owned grocery shop and café, first established in 2015 with funds raised by selling £25 shares to the local community. The Penicuik Storehouse offer a wide range of organic store cupboard staples, groceries, fresh fruit and veg, eco-friendly household toiletries and cleaning products, alongside a thriving cafe and now rather fittingly in this auspicious year for them, they are on the cusp of an exciting development which could mean they’ll soon be able to provide a creative space for their locals too. We reached out to John Phillips, Shop Manager, to find out more about life at the Storehouse and what the future holds for them.
How did your business come into being?
The Penicuik Storehouse, shop, café and community space, was created in 2015 by selling shares at £25.00 each to nearly 1,000 local people in Midlothian. The dream of Roger Kelly our founder; to bring the community together, promoting sustainable living and encouraging healthy eating for all. It is wholly community owned and staffed by a combination of over 70 volunteers and a core of paid staff. The cash from the shareholders was used to buy the building, with the support of the Scottish Land Fund and to renovate the ground floor. It was created to benefit the community.
What is the food scene like in your area and your what sort of customer base do you have?
We are a community with a wide variety of needs and so reflecting those needs, the shop stocks organic, fresh produce, groceries, household products and toiletries that are local, environmentally friendly or fairly traded to help enable people to live a healthier and more sustainable life. Withing that we also offer a great range of products to suit a variety of dietary needs. The café serves a wide selection of delicious beverages, homemade soups, scones, cakes and various savouries. We run a pay-it-forward scheme as well as offering a free of charge community meal instore every Wednesday lunch time.
You put a lot of effort into your sourcing. What are your guiding principles and favourite products?
Local, ethical, organic and sustainable are our guiding principles. We’re surrounded by amazing local producers, and we know that Greencity products meet the highest standards in terms of quality and ethics. My personal favourites are Palestine Cola, Bonsoy soya milk, Leftfield Kombucha, White Mausu Rayu and Blackthorn salt.
Why do you use Greencity Wholefoods as a wholesaler?
Over 20 years before setting up The Penicuik Storehouse, Roger Kelly opened his hallway at Valleyfield House every Saturday morning to the locals; full of fresh, local, organic produce, groceries and household products for the community to buy. Greencity was an important supplier to Roger, with its range of high-quality products, ethically sourced, Fairtrade and environmentally friendly. Roger loved people and community and had a great relationship with Greencity, appreciating the co-op business model and their relationship with their producers. Sadly Roger passed away in 2020, but the Storehouse continues to grow alongside Greencity and our other fabulous local producers and suppliers.
If you could invite 3 people (living or dead) along to dinner, who would they be, and why?
David Attenborough - He’s probably the most important living person, for what he’s done for global awareness of the natural world and the problems we face in the 21st century.
Paul McCartney - One of my favourite musicians, from the Beatles to the present day. He’s always inspired me - as a fellow bass player I’ve always been aware how interesting his playing is, as well as his songwriting.
Alan Turing - The only genius I share my birthday with as far as I know! I would love to hear what he would think about AI, which was partly inspired by his work.
What are your plans for the future?
We’re delighted to have received a grant of £10,000 to develop the upper floor of the building and we aim to open the upstairs to offer various local organisations and groups a performance area, storage and office spaces. Opening the upper floor will also make the building more efficient and cost effective. Architects have been appointed, and we hope to get our plans to RIBA stage 2 or 3 with the lottery funding. We’re in the process of looking at crowdfunding and additional grants towards raising the capital to develop the upper floor, so it’s a very exciting and dynamic time for us.
Many thanks to John at The Penicuik Storehouse for answering our questions. We wish John, the rest of the team, and their local community another exciting and successful decade for The Penicuik Storehouse and look forward to continuing to supply you with more great products. Make sure to pay The Penicuik Storehouse a visit if you’re in the area, it’s the perfect stopping point to stock up before heading further south into the Scottish Borders, or on your way through to Edinburgh.
