Once a cultural anchor in the heart of the capital, Princes Street has since fallen far from grace. Taking a look at the area today, a question arises: How does a street so vacant remain so full?
There is a man propped up on a ladder in the West End of Princes Street. He’s painting haphazard strokes of white across the coffin door of the old Three mobile shop.
A new tenant has since taken over: Blank Street Coffee. It’s the second cafe of this chain to open here. Designed to look like a local spot, Blank Street is an American company valued at half a billion dollars. It is one of many large corporations copying and pasting their outlets across central Edinburgh.
It’s hard to tell whether establishments like this are simply symptoms of the area’s decay, or whether they played a part in taking things to this point.
“If a Starbucks can make money on Princes Street, an independent cafe can make money there,” says Scottish Design Exchange (SDX) CEO Lynzi Leroy.
Her non-profit supports local Scottish-owned businesses, artists and designers to sell their goods at dedicated SDX outlets in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
“There’s no support and governmental support for independent businesses to move into the city centre. It’s like Disneyland in Edinburgh. They’ve created this thing for tourists, but it’s not what tourists want. What tourists and locals want is the same. To see independent stores, to support the economy. They want to see products that they can’t buy anywhere else.”
On Princes Streets journey to becoming a souvenir of itself, its heritage-listed buildings have been plastered over by Harry Potter merchandise, American fast-food chains and souvenirs bearing production tags from the People’s Republic of China.
A large part of the problem, Leroy says, is the presence of tartan tatt in the city centre.
Tartan tatt is a colloquial name for low-quality souvenir shops cashing in on the incredibly large tourist footfall coming through the street on a daily basis.
In amongst these shops, and the aforementioned coffee chains, Scottish-owned businesses have vanished. The space for them simply doesn’t exist, pushed out by rising rent prices that once even rivaled London’s city centre.
The area has also seen an increase in crime over the years and remains the area with the highest rates of physical assault, with 169 incidents in 2023/2024. Police have also reported much more youth-related criminal activity along the street, as well as shoplifting, which has had an understandably negative effect on businesses remaining on the street.
“I really think that they need to look at how we can encourage entrepreneurship and local businesses to grow. If the footfall is there, the business can make money.”
SDX Chief Executive Officer, Lynzi Leroy
There have been moves made recently by the Scottish Government to improve the situation. In particular, the introduction of the Community Wealth Building Act, released in March of this year.
It requires Scottish ministers and public bodies to publish and implement plans aimed at reducing inequality and retaining wealth locally. The original framework lays out five key pillars that make up the Act, with a focus on spending, workforce, land and property, inclusive ownership, and finances.
However, not everyone is happy with the legislation as it stands today.
“I don’t think they’re really looking at using this bill for what its purpose is, you know, building community wealth. We want to have these five pillars which build that and keep the wealth within our communities, but I don’t think that’s what they are using this for at the minute.” Leroy said.
That being said, there have been some pockets of Scottish-owned businesses thriving in and around Princes Street.
From marketplace dining venue Bonnie and Wild to longstanding icons like Hamilton and Inches, there is still a thriving scene for Scottish-owned businesses, but if Princes Street remains a Wild West of retail, it will be nigh impossible for Scottish-owned businesses to break through.
Perhaps it’s time for the Scottish Government to take a firmer stance on Princes Streets’ failing retail scene, before it’s too late.
