Demise of an icon

[Troglodyte]

It looks like Chisholm's are still in operation, but were closed for business yesterday afternoon. It seems they have reduced their opening hours due to lack of custom - a la the Covid effect.

And that is the same story to be heard throughout the town. I looked into one shop that at this time of the year is normally thronged with overseas visitors seeking out woollens, cashmirs and the like, but I got the feeling I was the only potential customer they had seen all day. I am almost ashamed to say I bought nothing either.

The problem with 'staycation' visitors from other parts of the UK, is that they are not in the market for the goods that overseas visitors normally buy in abundance. Both England and Wales have their own woollens traditons well catered for, and those nationals appear impervious to the appeal of tartan. Inverness urgently needs to see the return of holiday-makers from North America and the Far East, but what are the chances of that happening any time soon..?