Glasgow shop to relocate after 13 years as parking charges 'quadruple'

The Yarn Cake is currently based in Queen Margaret Drive where it sells knitting materials, teas and cakes.

Owner Antje Karl, however, recently decided to relocate due to several problems.

She said: “We have had ongoing issues. The parking charges have just been quadrupled. It is much more expensive for my customers to park but none of the infrastructure has improved.

“We have got extra costs but we still have a pavement which is pretty much a danger to walk on.

"The roadworks were the general issue along with parking charges.

“But also I could not come to an agreement with my landlord over the rent for these premises.

“It just feels like the right time to move."

Having been based at the popular West End location for 13 years, the trader said it will be bittersweet to pack up the shop.

Part of the charm of the venue, she said, has been the neighbours.

Owner Antje Karl with staff members Emily Sinclair, Oliver Dhir and Jennifer Anderson (Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest)

The Yarn Cake on Queen Margaret Drive (Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest)

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She added: "We’ll be really sad to leave Queen Margaret Drive, we built up a lovely community.

“The traders and the local residents are an amazing community, so I will be very sad to lose it but hopefully the new shop will also treat us well."

Customers and friends have also shown their support through a fundraiser, which the owner set up to ask for help with the big move to Crow Road.

It reached the targeted £7000 within two days, which was an overwhelming result.

The 47-year-old said: "We are really proud and very emotional. I have always said that our customers are the best and they proved it really quickly and efficiently. It was amazing.

"Everyone is really positive, quite a lot of people have said that it is actually going to be easier for them to get to [the shop]. It is closer to the train stations, so people travelling by public transport will find it easier to travel.

“We have a really solid community, so hopefully, people will be willing to travel to the new location to find us.

“And we are not going far, so they won’t have to massively change their routines if they are already in the habit of coming to the West End, so hopefully we won’t lose any customers. We might even find some new ones.

“It’s quite a difficult time for small retail in general, so it has been lovely having all this support from the customers. It means we can keep going and keep supplying the knitters of Glasgow with lovely things."

Antje Karl (Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest)

Staff members (Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest)

Looking towards the future, the businesswoman is excited about the opportunities provided by the new unit.

According to plans, the new Yarn Cake will be operating by the end of May.

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She said: "We are moving to bigger premises, which might be a good thing, so that will hopefully bring us to bigger and better things and to a lovely area.

“This lovely unit has lots of natural light, which is very good for us.

“It’s a good chunk bigger than where we are at the moment.

“Getting a bit more space will be good for us, we will be able to do more events, stock more interesting things and run classes.

“I have come around to being excited and feeling positive but there is a lot of work to be done.

“I have got a brilliant team.

“We are planning an opening night and as I said, events to make sure people know where we are."

A Glasgow City Council spokesperson said: "New parking charges were introduced on April 2 as part of the council’s budget for the new financial year. 

"The budget required the council to identify almost £50 million worth of savings to cover a funding gap, and any revenue raised from parking charges will go to support a range of services in the city. 

"Roadworks can be inconvenient for a short time, but they are by their nature temporary and are carried out to improve the road surface and/or provide better services for local residents, businesses and organisations.”