The Scottish Design Exchange is a new concept store, based in Leith’s Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre; it’s a very different approach to “High Street” or even “Town Centre Retail”. It is actually neither of those things, however I was keen to learn more in my quest to understand the changing dynamics for current bricks and mortar retail in 2017. I was also keen to learn from someone relatively new to the retail environment and get their opinion, rather than an owner of a business. Ruth works in the store and is an award winning fashion blogger, based in Edinburgh.
The Scottish Design Exchange is a shop for 150 artists and designers, working together as a collective. They pay a fixed fee to be given “shelf-space” in the premises and the price on the product is the price the designer or artist receives when the item is sold (how much is charged is up to the artist not the retailer).
It is effectively bringing together chocolatiers, fashion designers, painters, furniture designers and much more to showcase their work and to test whether it has commercial appeal. Two years on they are now actively looking for retail space in Glasgow; as a concept it’s working. Providing a high-street retail space for locally produced, hand crafted products.
Tell me about you, who you are, what you do and what you love most about your life in Edinburgh?
My name is Ruth MacGilp, I’m a fashion blogger and fashion student and I also work for The Scottish Design Exchange, an arts collective based in Leith, Edinburgh. I love the thriving creative scene here and the truly supportive and enthusiastic community.
What is it you love most about retail?
I love supporting independent young designers to find success in a retail environment, providing support to grow their small businesses and seeing their confidence grow as they find their feet. It’s also great to educate consumers on more ethical shopping habits, open their minds to new creative talent and finding truly unique products.
Do you have a dream for retail in the future; what would you like to see?
I would like to see retailers opening their eyes to the ethical issues surrounding the industry and reconsidering how they run their businesses. I want to see retail workers paid fairly for their time and effort, and I want to see more local, independent stores find sustainable financial success.
If you were to walk into a Doctor’s surgery or Dentist waiting room (there is zero wifi or phone reception), which magazine would you instinctively pick up and why?
I’m always been drawn to Vogue due to my lifelong fashion obsession, but lately I’ve become much more interested in indie zines and publications. At the moment I’m reading Boom Saloon and Feroce magazine, two Scotland-based, creative, hard-copy magazines.
The Scottish Design Exchange, thank you to Ruth, writer of Urbanity Blog