This year sees award winning rural destination Loch Leven’s Larder in Kinross – which includes The Larder Gift Store and the 1848 Design Store lifestyle shop – celebrate its 20th anniversary.
In a face-to-face interview at Scotland’s Trade Fair Spring last month, co-founder Emma Niven told GiftsandHome.net: “We’ve gone from carrots to cashmere.”
So how did it all begin? “My husband Rob and I opened Loch Leven’s Larder in 2005, and we haven’t looked back – we love giving people the chance to enjoy the beautiful location and to taste our vegetables, brought straight from our field into our kitchen, and served in our café and restaurant. In fact, the business actually started from the frustration of not being able to find vegetables locally,” Emma explains. “I did surveys at the school gates, asking people how they felt about it and if it was important to them. Their responses enabled me to progress and to develop Loch Leven’s Larder. It’s been invaluable to bring these people along with me.”
She continues: “About a year down the line, I realised that we had the opportunity to become more than just a farm shop, so introducing the Larder Gift Store was the first extension to the business. Giftwise, over the years, the product mix has grown hugely, offering something for everyone, with products ranging from home fragrance to jewellery, fashion, fashion accessories, interiors, greeting cards, gift food and stationery. Bestselling brands include Broste, Talking Tables, Siabann, Powder, Roka and Caroline Gardner, as well as Kaemingk for Christmas and Easter ranges.”
Highlights Emma: “With the seasons, especially Spring and Autumn, becoming increasingly important, they give the team an additional reason to change the shops around, while making the Larder Gift Store look fresh and different for customers. In fact, I definitely think the seasonality part of gifting is on the increase. However, the biggest area for us is Halloween where we’ve noticed massive growth.”
Interestingly, Emma describes herself as “Mrs. Christmas,” explaining: “I would do Christmas ten months of the year if I could. I love Christmas, not just because of the lights and the baubles, but because it’s about family, it’s about sharing, it’s about food, it’s about gifts. It’s the whole package. It’s why I ignored Halloween for quite some time. The trick or treating bit didn’t really resonate with me. But now I feel that Halloween has become fun, and with everything that’s going on in the world, I see it as a fun occasion and something to celebrate.”
So what kind of customer does Loch Leven’s Larder attract? “We have everyone from grannies bringing their grandchildren in to young professionals and couple on their first date. They meet up for a coffee, go for a wander round, and, if things are going well, come back for lunch!”
Emma says that, as for challenges, the cost of living crisis is ongoing, “meaning that we are measuring and balancing what we’re buying, encouraging people to keep purchasing, with very difficult times ahead. Plus, getting deliveries on time is something I don’t see improving massively this year. It drives us to look at smaller suppliers and local suppliers, with companies such as Talking Tables and Caroline Gardner very on it. Therefore from our perspective, it’s about being more measured in our buying choices to ensure that we’re ticking all the boxes, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. It’s very much about communication.”
As for sourcing, Emma emphasises the importance of always having sustainability in mind, as well as the quality of the product.
Reflecting on the highlights over the past 20 years, she says the main one has been helping and strategically working to make Loch Leven’s Larder what it is today. “Our team are 100% one of our biggest strengths,” she states. “Since we opened, we have expanded to become one of the area’s biggest employers, with over 85 staff on our payroll. Some of our team have been with us since day one and we are particularly proud to see how our younger members of staff develop their skills and confidence during their time with us. We’re very lucky with out location too. We’re so central, and get huge numbers of people coming in from all over, seeing Loch Leven’s as a central meeting point for shopping and admiring the beautiful scenery.”
So what ambitions does she have going forward? “I’d like to go on developing Loch Leven’s Larder, and for more people to join the team, bringing different ideas and businesses to make it a place that people really want to visit.”
Top: Loch Leven’s Larder’s 1848 Design Store is one of two gift and lifestyle outlets at the retail destination.
