Disappointment voiced as Ulsta shop announces planned closure
The Ulsta shop in Yell has announced it will close its doors later this year.
The shop, which is located near the ferry terminal, will operate until 7th November.
An announcement about its closure has been made on social media.
The shop is owned by Ian Cunynghame, who also owns DG Leslie and The Checkout in Scalloway.
Chairman of Yell Community Council Laurence Odie said the loss of the shop would be keenly felt by the community.
“I’m extremely disappointed that the shop is closing,” he said, adding he expected it to have a “big effect” on the south-west quarter of Yell.
“There is a lot of passing trade and I know a lot of the travellers, lorry drivers and other people have got their coffee and hot pies there.”
Mr Odie said the decision to close had “come out of the blue,” and added work had been done to improve the shop with new shelving only last year.
“The shop hired the North Ness hall while the shop was being refurbished.
He added other businesses which have supplied the Ulsta shop would feel a knock on effect, such as the Kitchen Bakery that operates out of Burravoe. That business, he said, would have to focus its energies on supplying more to other shops instead.
Mr Odie said that, while shoppers in Yell did have the choice to go elsewhere in the island for convenience goods, the choice was “diminishing quickly”.
“The community are shocked by it.
“Staff are obviously upset about it as well.”
He added there had been a period in the 1970s when Ulsta was without a shop, but people had the option to go to Burravoe or Westsandwick at that time.
john ridland
You have to ask yourself,s one question= If this shop had been making a big/good profit would the owner close the shop…? I am sure he would NOT,
What is happening here is a small snapshot of how the Shetland economy is and will react when the Jobs dry up and money also obviously drys up along with them.
This is the wonder full green utopia that sustain shetland,save shetland, the greens and snp will inflect
on the rest of Shetland and its people if they could get there way,
There pathetic blinkered view of how Shetland should be will see the above situation magnified and spread throughout the whole islands,
Shetland needs investment in real full time good well payed jobs, if we are to stop this destruction of the shetland economy,