A new zero waste grocery shop has opened on Perth ’s High Street and its owners ensure it will be child-friendly - selling penny sweets that actually cost a penny.
Rachel and David Amdurer have lived near Perth for the last six years and recently opened their shop Leachman’s of Perth at the end of the street near St Paul’s Square.
Rachel likes to label that end of Perth as the new ‘Bohemian Quarter’ because since the project by Perth and Kinross Council to restore the derelict church into a landmark space, the area is increasingly buzzing with eye-catching independent shops.
Online they introduce their style as “a weigh and savey, nifty gifty, penny sweetie sort of a thing.”
The business has three strings to its bow. Firstly it has a food element with gluten-free products, flavoured vinegars, jars of dry goods and fresh fruit and vegetables.
Inside the store you can get hold of items from flour and pasta to quinoa and teff grain. They also have hand-labelled little spice jars and when in season, Perthshire -grown ingredients too.
The couple have tried to keep the prices of these food products fair and to do this they have offset the refill-friendly groceries against a range of higher priced Perthshire gifts which they hope customers will find unusual and worth paying a little more for.
Rachel and David come from an education background. David is off for the summer holidays but still employed as a school librarian and Rachel has recently said goodbye to her primary school where she was working as support for children with additional needs. It means she will do the lion’s share of hours in the shop once schools go back.
“I’ve had nearly two decades working with children and I feel what with COVID, children have really struggled recently,” she said.
“The cost of living crisis is lurking too, so we wanted to give little ones something just for them to enjoy, that precious pocket money can buy.
“At Leachman’s we have penny sweets and yes, they do actually cost just one pence each, something I felt strongly about as that real value for kids is hard to find these days.
“As a way to get noticed we have had a bubble machine at the shop door and that has been a bit of a draw for younger customers. Both David and I really like to see Perth’s young people pay us a visit.”
As well as the actual shop on High Street, they have online sales too.
Living rurally has given Rachel and David a chance to brush up their growing skills and some of their home produce will be making an appearance in the shop.
“Right now we have fruit bushes going crazy at home so we bring in our red currants and blackcurrants and later in the year you will be able to buy our apples too,” she added. “We enjoy a gorgeous commute into Perth and it is great to be able to offer whatever comes up in our garden to people in the city.
“Leachman’s joins a growing range of independent shops giving this end of High Street a feel all of its own. It makes me wonder, does Perth have its own Bohemian Quarter now?”
