The owners of a popular High Street shop in Paisley have announced they are retiring after six years of trading.
But it won’t mean the end of the store as new owners are set to take over and continue the legacy started by Joe and Tricia Bisland.
The husband-and-wife team are well-known faces at the White Cart Company and have been supplying shoppers with unique gifts and artwork in Paisley for half a dozen years.
Starting out on Glasgow Road, Joe, a former project manager, worked in the shop alone, with Tricia, a former school teacher, helping with the buying. Joe and Tricia’s son Kieran also assisted with marketing and purchasing.
When Tricia retired from teaching a year later, she spent one week working with Joe in the Glasgow Road store before deciding that she could not bear to work alongside her husband any longer, said Joe, and so they got a second store at St Mirren Brae.
They would then move into their current premises at 30B High Street and leave the other two stores behind.
Joe, 66, and Tricia, 65, have decided to call it a day in the retail business, saying this is “the right time for us to move on”. Joe was keen to stress that the business is thriving and his and Tricia’s departure has nothing to do with business concerns.
He said: “The business has been incredibly well supported. Over the years, we’ve had lots of regular customers. Lots of people come to Paisley just to see us, because we have a bit of a unique, niche market.
“It’s been very successful. We traded through the pandemic, making home deliveries and all of that. But, I’m now 66 and Tricia’s 66 in March. We had a fantastic Christmas, with lots of support, and this just seems like the right time for us to move on.”
Joe and Tricia’s final day in the business will be Saturday, February 18.
White Cart Company fans need not lament the loss of another Paisley business. The business will continue to run, coming under new ownership as Elaine Fulton, who runs MoonGemz Baby, just a few doors down from White Cart Company, will take over.
Joe explained: “They are going to keep about 80 per cent of the shop exactly as it is, with the same artists.
“We’ve agreed with all the artists that they’re staying and we’ve agreed with the suppliers as well – and, additionally, they will have some baby clothes, because that’s what they do.
“So, the good news is for the shopper in Paisley is that the only thing that will really change will be the personnel in the shop, not so much the product.
“They will obviously develop the product lines over the years to be different, to target a slightly younger demographic maybe and that’s fine.
"So, there will be a high quality gift and baby shop in the High Street of Paisley from February 20."
Elaine thanked Joe and Tricia for their support in getting the takeover sorted.
She said: “Thanks to Joe and Tricia for the massive amount of help that they’ve given me in facilitating this move.
“I’m looking forward to meeting his customers and thank you to my own customers for their support through the years too.”
Joe added: “We’d like to thank all our customers for all their support over the last six years and I’m sure that they will support the new venture taking over.”
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