It’s farewell to business but not auf wiedersehen to pets for Hawick’s Libby

Libby’s Pet Shop has been the place to go for animal-loving Teries since it opened in March 1998.

The shop was originally in Sandbed but moved to its current home in High Street after those previous premises were flooded 12 years ago.

Owner Libby Potts says she will be sad to bid farewell to customers but has taken the decision to call it quits at the end of next month on health grounds.

However, she’s not planning to say goodbye to the remaining pets in her shop, including two parrots, four cockatiels and Tom the guinea pig.

Half those pets will live with her in her one-bedroom flat in Hawick’s Waverley Terrace and the rest will go to her daughter Dawn’s home in the town.

Libby, 71, said: “There has been a lot of illness in the family, and I was not well before Christmas.

“I’m taking longer to get better as I get older, and I thought it was time to call it a day.

“I’ve made a lot of good friends, but I know myself that age is catching up with me and that it’s the right time to go.

“I’m going to do gardening and housework, and I’ve got a motorhome.

“I can honestly say that I have never once got up in the morning and thought I didn’t want to go into work.

“ I love my work, and that’s why I am going to find it hard.

“I was off in December with a chest infection, and it was that that made my mind up and I realised it was time to retire.”

She added: “There’s been a downturn in trade in Hawick.

“I have been going through the paperwork from 2009, and I was making more money then than I am now.

“The high street is dead, and not just in Hawick. Galashiels is just as bad.

“It’s a shame, but the internet and multiples are killing the high street.

“I love the shop and helping people, but I’m 71 and have worked since I was 15, so it’s time to put my feet up.”