Henry Healy is feeding Glasgow's TikTok generation after 110 years in the city

Founded in 1912, Irish immigrant Henry Healy built up his business from selling eggs in a cart to owning 30 stores across the city.

Owner Lynn Mortimer at Henry Healy on Queen Street (Image: Photo by Colin Mearns)

With the rise of supermarkets came an inevitable decline in smaller businesses, and when the business went into receivership in 2009, there were only a handful of shops left.

But amid competition from industry giants, a global pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis, the name Henry Healy has survived in Glasgow 110 years later.

It could be said that this is down to the determination of one faithful customer who didn’t want to see its demise.

Lynn Mortimer (Image: Photo by Colin Mearns)

Lynn Mortimer, 55, knew Henry’s son Harry as he was a regular at her family business, Victoria’s nightclub, and she and her colleagues would always pop into the store for a lunchtime roll.

She told the Glasgow Times: “Harry and his wife were great customers of ours and my family always shopped in Henry Healy. It is an institution.

“My office was based in Royal Exchange Square and one day the staff came in and said the receivers have told them they’re out their jobs. They couldn’t sell the lease on; they needed our permission.”

Lynn would go from being a customer and friend to the Queen Street store’s saving grace when she took over in 2009, while another owner took over the Mitchell Street shop.

Owner Lynn Mortimer at Henry Healy on Queen Street (Image: Photo by Colin Mearns)

She added: “It was such a shame to see it go so I thought, do you know what, I’m going to take it over. And I’ve had it ever since.”

After saving the jobs of the staff who worked there, Lynn has been at the helm ever since.

In March 2020 the pandemic turned the city into a ‘ghost town’ and the shop had to close. It reopened in May this year with new staff, as the circumstances of Lynn’s former colleagues had changed.

And so began the process of rebuilding the brand, embodying what Henry Healy was to Lynn, the generations before her and keeping the name alive.

She said: “I always remember it growing up - they were the shops everyone went to. My parents said they would go into Henry Healy for this and that. You never had these big supermarket chains.

“It was a personal thing to me too. I was based in the city centre and there was Greggs and all that, but Henry Healy was a sandwich shop to go in and see everything in front of you and pick it yourself, and I like the idea of that.”

While she recognised that some changes had to be made in modern times, with healthy and vegan options now on the menu, Lynn emphasises that representing Henry Healy and what it means in Glasgow is important to her.

She said: “We kept the well-known stuff, the classics. We’ve got homemade soup, Morton’s rolls, chopped pork, corned beef, macaroni, full breakfasts.

“I never considered changing the name because of what it has been in Glasgow. A lady came in the other day and asked if we still sell bags of broken loose biscuits and loose butter."

“That’s what they used to do," she added. "There’d be this big chopping board out and a huge square of butter, and you’d get a bit of butter cut and sold to you wrapped in baking paper.

“While we can’t do that anymore, that’s what it was known for, and I’m still asked about it by the older customers. People still remember it.”

And while Henry Healy is a name more often recognised by the older generations, it is becoming more popular with the younger crowd since the team recently joined TikTok.

Lynn said: “We’ve been getting the name Henry Healy out there on Facebook and TikTok and it has resulted in an influx of new customers.

“I’m not a great one for social media, my friends have been doing it and a lot of people have been coming in saying ‘can I get that? I saw it on TikTok’.

“It shows you how many people follow social media and that’s been a big help in building things back up. I’ve seen a big difference in the last few weeks.”

Despite rising costs impacting businesses across the country, Lynn wants to continue to deliver the authentic Henry Healy experience to every customer who walks in the door, old or young, and for her this means never letting standards slip.

She said: “Everything is homemade, and I use all the good stuff. Heinz Salad Cream, Heinz Tomato Sauce, HP Sauce – all that stuff. My staff are like ‘how do you make money?’

“But if you’ve got a roll in cold meat, it makes a difference to have Lurpak butter. I want to give people value and quality.

“Yes, it is expensive, but I like to give people what I like myself.”