Florist returns to her roots on the high street

Gina Fairley has been bolstered by the support and words of encouragement she has received from townsfolk after opening Charlie’s at 72 High Street on Wednesday.

A florist for three decades Gina had worked for her husband Ian’s taxi business over the past eight years.

She said: “After lockdown in March I felt I wanted to go back to being a florist. I decided to call the premises Charlie’s because a lot of the family have had that name and I’ve seen so many shops over the years named after flowers and I wanted something a bit different.

“I’ve had so much interest it is unbelievable and have been sent many messages on Facebook. People just passing the door have stopped and said how nice it was that someone had put such effort into a window display.

“It’s got all the gold willow and I wanted a pumpkin there to encourage children to look. It’s a flower shop but there are also themes behind it. I will be doing themes for Christmas, Mother’s Day and every other occasion. We have taken a lot of orders, which I didn’t expect so soon as there was no big advertisement.”

Gina, who lives above the Bank of Scotland in the high street, is being helped out in the shop through the day by her daughter Virginia.

She added: “It’s nice to see something starting up rather than everything shutting down. I think the owner of the property didn’t want it reopening as a pop-up shop and preferred it under permanent ownership because of the virus.

“We looked at a couple of other shops along the high street and this premises is well-situated. For a flower shop it’s not too big. It’s just the right size. We have a new counter on the side, a joiner just starting up did a fantastic job on that. My husband did all the stands for the flowers, and, with the help of my son-in-law Ashley, did the decorating. It was repainted outside and a young couple from Galashiels did the sign-writing.”