#smallbusiness — Public Fediverse posts

J'adore ces boucles d'oreilles en forme de feuilles de ginkgo avec ses nervures métallisées. Je ne me lasse pas de ces jolis reflets 🤩
👉 https://savousepate.com/fr/boucles-d-oreilles-pendantes/113-1256-boucles-d-oreille-feuilles-de-ginkgo-vertes.html

#BijouxFantaisie #Surcyclage #Upcycling #ArtisanatFR #FaitMain #SmallBusiness

🐦‍⬛🐦🕊️ Voici un petit récapitulatif de toutes les boucles d'oreilles d' #oiseaux que vous pouvez trouver dans ma boutique ☺️
👉 https://savousepate.com/fr/124-oiseaux

#BijouxFantaisie #Surcyclage #Upcycling #ArtisanatFR #FaitMain #SmallBusiness #BirdArt #SciArt

🐦‍⬛🐦🕊️ Voici un petit récapitulatif de toutes les boucles d'oreilles d' #oiseaux que vous pouvez trouver dans ma boutique ☺️
👉 https://savousepate.com/fr/124-oiseaux

#BijouxFantaisie #Surcyclage #Upcycling #ArtisanatFR #FaitMain #SmallBusiness #BirdArt #SciArt

Shop in person. Please.

Shipping rates are now cost prohibitive for anything under 3lbs using USPS to 20% of the US population. Tariffs are killing international sales.

Scraping of visual imagery and video posted online is out of control. Streaming is even being used for training.

Algorithms are preventing people from seeing the posts of those they want to follow. Online sales for most have tanked.

There is literally NO WHERE artists can go to protect anything they post. And even if they do make a sale, it's too expensive to deliver the paper it's printed on.

Shop in person. PLEASE.

Go to those events. Interact with real people. Get offline. Have actual verbal conversations. Support your local people making local goods. Support small business.

The ripple effect of all these cumulative factors is destroying lives. The best way to support each other is to be present. PHYSICALLY.

#IndieArtist #SmallBusiness #Art #Artist #ArtistLife #Sales

Shop in person. Please.

Shipping rates are now cost prohibitive for anything under 3lbs using USPS to 20% of the US population. Tariffs are killing international sales.

Scraping of visual imagery and video posted online is out of control. Streaming is even being used for training.

Algorithms are preventing people from seeing the posts of those they want to follow. Online sales for most have tanked.

There is literally NO WHERE artists can go to protect anything they post. And even if they do make a sale, it's too expensive to deliver the paper it's printed on.

Shop in person. PLEASE.

Go to those events. Interact with real people. Get offline. Have actual verbal conversations. Support your local people making local goods. Support small business.

The ripple effect of all these cumulative factors is destroying lives. The best way to support each other is to be present. PHYSICALLY.

#IndieArtist #SmallBusiness #Art #Artist #ArtistLife #Sales

🔓 Qwen3.8-27B just dropped as open weights (Apache 2.0).

Runs on a single RTX 4090. Your data never leaves your machine. No token meter. Perfect for SMBs tired of API bills and privacy risks.

https://signaldigital.net/2026/08/14/qwen3-8-27b-just-dropped-as-open-weights-heres-why-your-small-business-should-care/

#Qwen #OpenSource #AI #SmallBusiness

🔓 Qwen3.8-27B just dropped as open weights (Apache 2.0).

Runs on a single RTX 4090. Your data never leaves your machine. No token meter. Perfect for SMBs tired of API bills and privacy risks.

https://signaldigital.net/2026/08/14/qwen3-8-27b-just-dropped-as-open-weights-heres-why-your-small-business-should-care/

#Qwen #OpenSource #AI #SmallBusiness

🐦 J'ai le plaisir de vous présenter ma nouvelle collection de petits macareux moines, dont une partie des bénéfices sera reversée à la LPO !
👉 https://savousepate.com/fr/recherche?s=macareux

#BijouxFantaisie #Surcyclage #Upcycling #ArtisanatFR #FaitMain #SmallBusiness #Oiseaux #BirdArt #SciArt

🐦 J'ai le plaisir de vous présenter ma nouvelle collection de petits macareux moines, dont une partie des bénéfices sera reversée à la LPO !
👉 https://savousepate.com/fr/recherche?s=macareux

#BijouxFantaisie #Surcyclage #Upcycling #ArtisanatFR #FaitMain #SmallBusiness #Oiseaux #BirdArt #SciArt

🔓 X just open-sourced its algorithm. A Copenhagen bakery now sees the same ranking signals as the Nike team.
No more shadowban guessing. Same code for all. Replies > likes. Consistency wins.

https://signaldigital.net/2026/08/14/a-local-bakery-in-copenhagen-can-now-understand-the-same-signals-that-nikes-global-social-team-does/

#X #Twitter #Algorithm #SmallBusiness #OpenSource #SocialMedia

🔓 X just open-sourced its algorithm. A Copenhagen bakery now sees the same ranking signals as the Nike team.
No more shadowban guessing. Same code for all. Replies > likes. Consistency wins.

https://signaldigital.net/2026/08/14/a-local-bakery-in-copenhagen-can-now-understand-the-same-signals-that-nikes-global-social-team-does/

#X #Twitter #Algorithm #SmallBusiness #OpenSource #SocialMedia

I had someone stiff me on a commission of a handmade leather folio. My bad. Not much I can do about it.
But I just got the idea of sending them postcards. "Do your neighbors know you steal from small business owners/artisans?" Might make them think twice about doing it again.
#SmallBusiness #HandMade #artisan #theft

I had someone stiff me on a commission of a handmade leather folio. My bad. Not much I can do about it.
But I just got the idea of sending them postcards. "Do your neighbors know you steal from small business owners/artisans?" Might make them think twice about doing it again.
#SmallBusiness #HandMade #artisan #theft

Feels like my posts are getting lost in the feed lately… 💔 Impressions dropped, and it’s getting harder to reach you all.
​If you see this, could you please give it a Boost? 🔁 On Mastodon, your boosts are the only way small independent creators can stay visible!
​Send me a DM if you’d like to order a handmade piece. Thank you so much for your support! 💙💛
​#Handmade #Artisan #Beadwork #Handcrafted #SmallBusiness #SupportHandmade #MadeInUkraine #Crafts

Feels like my posts are getting lost in the feed lately… 💔 Impressions dropped, and it’s getting harder to reach you all.
​If you see this, could you please give it a Boost? 🔁 On Mastodon, your boosts are the only way small independent creators can stay visible!
​Send me a DM if you’d like to order a handmade piece. Thank you so much for your support! 💙💛
​#Handmade #Artisan #Beadwork #Handcrafted #SmallBusiness #SupportHandmade #MadeInUkraine #Crafts

FYI: EU packaging law forces sellers to register in up to 27 countries: One authorised representative per member state, one registration each, applies August 12. Small merchants are already cutting EU shipping. Who absorbs the cost? https://ppc.land/eu-packaging-law-forces-sellers-to-register-in-up-to-27-countries/ #EULaw #PackagingRegulations #ECommerce #SmallBusiness #ShippingCosts

Trump’s Justice Dept. Targets Smaller Fraud Cases

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/14/us/politics/trump-doj-fraud-california-food-truck.html

Trump’s Justice Dept. Targets Smaller Fraud Cases

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/14/us/politics/trump-doj-fraud-california-food-truck.html

🔻✊ Rejoignez la lutte #Antifasciste et affichez vos convictions grâce à ce pin's et ces puces d'oreilles éco-responsables !
👉 https://savousepate.com/fr/recherche?s=antifa

#BijouxFantaisie #Surcyclage #Upcycling #ArtisanatFR #FaitMain #SmallBusiness

🔻✊ Rejoignez la lutte #Antifasciste et affichez vos convictions grâce à ce pin's et ces puces d'oreilles éco-responsables !
👉 https://savousepate.com/fr/recherche?s=antifa

#BijouxFantaisie #Surcyclage #Upcycling #ArtisanatFR #FaitMain #SmallBusiness

Meet the ‘Lobster Cone,’ a uniquely Boston ice cream creation https://www.diningandcooking.com/2769891/meet-the-lobster-cone-a-uniquely-boston-ice-cream-creation/ #Apron #boston #BostonIceCreamCreation #colombia #CulinaryExperiment #customer #DeepCulturalBlend #DessertInnovation #FlavorElement #food #FoodCulture #FoodTopics #FoodTrends #FoodTruck #FusionCuisine #IceCream #LigiaVan #LobsterCone #massachusetts #memory #NewEngland #NewEnglandCuisine #NewburyStreet #people #SmallBusiness #Snackbox #StreetFood #VanillaStyleSoftServe #ViralFood

Meet the ‘Lobster Cone,’ a uniquely Boston ice cream creation https://www.diningandcooking.com/2769891/meet-the-lobster-cone-a-uniquely-boston-ice-cream-creation/ #Apron #boston #BostonIceCreamCreation #colombia #CulinaryExperiment #customer #DeepCulturalBlend #DessertInnovation #FlavorElement #food #FoodCulture #FoodTopics #FoodTrends #FoodTruck #FusionCuisine #IceCream #LigiaVan #LobsterCone #massachusetts #memory #NewEngland #NewEnglandCuisine #NewburyStreet #people #SmallBusiness #Snackbox #StreetFood #VanillaStyleSoftServe #ViralFood

"Corrugated" - all #vinyl #mix going out to small #record #labels.

Tune-in, download #repost at:
https://hearthis.at/emuziek/corrugated/

Common sense #sustainment supports free exchange of existing #recycled #cardboard #shipping mailers. Keep using until they completely wear-out.

♻️ Re-use, recycle, RESIST. ♻️

#Packaging #Waste #ecommerce #Regulation #PPWR #techno #dj #mix #experimental #music #minimalwave #synth #musicproduction #smallbusiness #circulareconomy #coldwave #mastodonMusic #Darkwave #minimal

"Corrugated" - all #vinyl #mix going out to small #record #labels.

Tune-in, download #repost at:
https://hearthis.at/emuziek/corrugated/

Common sense #sustainment supports free exchange of existing #recycled #cardboard #shipping mailers. Keep using until they completely wear-out.

♻️ Re-use, recycle, RESIST. ♻️

#Packaging #Waste #ecommerce #Regulation #PPWR #techno #dj #mix #experimental #music #minimalwave #synth #musicproduction #smallbusiness #circulareconomy #coldwave #mastodonMusic #Darkwave #minimal

India’s MSMEs face slower revenue growth amid Iran conflict: Crisil

ShareShare Article via FacebookShare Article via TwitterShare Article via LinkedInShare Article via Email Pushan Sharma, Director at Crisil…
#NewsBeep #News #BreakingNews #AsiaEconomy #breakingnews #BrentCrude3rd #businessnews #CNXNiftyIndex #EmergingMarkets #Energy #India #Iran #MurbanCrudeOilFutures #Neutral #smallbusiness #War
https://www.newsbeep.com/690735/

🇨🇳 China’s “5A Framework” for AI — 5 practical lessons for EU small businesses.
Connect tools. Clean data. Augment people. Align with values. Share benefits.
No big budget needed.

https://signaldigital.net/2026/08/13/what-eu-small-businesses-can-learn-from-chinas-5a-framework-for-ai/

#AI #SmallBusiness #EU #5AFramework #China

🇨🇳 China’s “5A Framework” for AI — 5 practical lessons for EU small businesses.
Connect tools. Clean data. Augment people. Align with values. Share benefits.
No big budget needed.

https://signaldigital.net/2026/08/13/what-eu-small-businesses-can-learn-from-chinas-5a-framework-for-ai/

#AI #SmallBusiness #EU #5AFramework #China

The last two #PencilBooth #newsletters that I sent out had 30% and then 23% opening rate. It’s too low to make it worth spending time with it.

https://pencilbooth.com/gyrusinczky

My #Darkroom #PrintStore produced zero sales since launching it this year.

https://gyrusinczky.darkroom.com/

#photography #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness

The last two #PencilBooth #newsletters that I sent out had 30% and then 23% opening rate. It’s too low to make it worth spending time with it.

https://pencilbooth.com/gyrusinczky

My #Darkroom #PrintStore produced zero sales since launching it this year.

https://gyrusinczky.darkroom.com/

#photography #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness

7 Essential Tips for Preparing Your Performance Review https://smallbiztrends.com/preparing-for-performance-review/
#supportsmallbusinesses #smallbusinessowner #smallbusiness #shoesmithlc

7 Essential Time Management Techniques for Work Success https://smallbiztrends.com/time-management-techniques-for-work/
#supportsmallbusinesses #smallbusinessowner #smallbusiness #shoesmithlc

Cost Reduction Strategies That Do Not Eat the Business https://chiefoperatingofficer.substack.com/p/cost-reduction-strategies-that-do #Management #Business #SmallBusiness

Cost Reduction Strategies That Do Not Eat the Business https://chiefoperatingofficer.substack.com/p/cost-reduction-strategies-that-do #Management #Business #SmallBusiness

Family Business Succession: The Transition Most Owners Plan Ten Years Too Late https://chiefoperatingofficer.substack.com/p/family-business-succession-the-transition #Management #Business #SmallBusiness

Family Business Succession: The Transition Most Owners Plan Ten Years Too Late https://chiefoperatingofficer.substack.com/p/family-business-succession-the-transition #Management #Business #SmallBusiness

Every small business working in the GOVERNMENT CLASSIFIED VENUE has to go through these gates and maintain a vigilant program of compliance with associated regulations.
https://rosecoveredglasses.wordpress.com/2026/08/13/small-business-and-national-industrial-security-requirements/
#SmallBusiness #GovernmentContracting
#SecurityRequirements

Every small business working in the GOVERNMENT CLASSIFIED VENUE has to go through these gates and maintain a vigilant program of compliance with associated regulations.
https://rosecoveredglasses.wordpress.com/2026/08/13/small-business-and-national-industrial-security-requirements/
#SmallBusiness #GovernmentContracting
#SecurityRequirements

🦑 Ces 2 porte-clés méduse sont encore disponibles, et prêts à être expédiés !
👉 https://savousepate.com/fr/portes-cles/435-55741-porte-cle-goutte-d-eau-avec-meduse.html

#SmallBusiness #FaitMain #ArtisanatFR #Surcyclage #Upcycling

Darts and Television. The thread about Borlands of Croall Place

A small but nevertheless significant ripple spread across social media just the other day when it was picked up that the premises of Borlands, a legendary shop on Leith Walk, was for sale. This establishment is well known both for its longevity (“Estd. 1925” above the door) and its no-nonsense signage that boldly proclaimed its unusual pairing of product lines. Darts. Television.

Darts and television go together like fish and chips.

Irvine Welsh and Kevin Williamson, writing on the subject of Borlands, 1993

Very little in print media seems ever to have been written about the place, although for a business with no web presence it ironically maintained a somewhat cult following online. There’s more to the Borlands story than just darts and television, so let Threadinburgh take the opportunity to mark the passing of a long-standing pillar of the Leith Walk business community by expanding on it a little bit for you.

Our story begins with Mary Borland (1879-1936), who ran a small newsagent and sweet shop at 47 Albert Street, further down Leith Walk. A widow, the 1921 Census shows she lived in the tenement next door (number 49) with her 17 year-old son Alexander Stanley (apprentice cooper), 14 year-old daughter Beatrice and her 46-year old brother Alexander McPherson, a shipbuilder at Cran & Somerville’s yard in Leith. She had been in business since at least 1920 as evidenced by the Valuation Rolls of that year. In 1925, Alexander took over the next door shop to his mother at number 45 and started out in business for himself as a “cycle agent” i.e., selling bicycles on hire purchase. This shop came with a flat behind, which became his home.

His business soon expanded into another new hire-purchase market: wireless radios. The BBC had launched a repeater service (2EH) serving Edinburgh in 1924 but home radio sets remained a luxury for the privileged (or technically capable) few for some time. By the turn of the ‘Thirties however mass production and new manufacturers entering a cut-throat market caused the unit price of sets to drop significantly. This brought them within the financial reach of the masses thanks to consumer credit.

A. B. calling. Stop wondering, your wireless set is here, on easy hire purchase terms; Osram 4, Cossor 3, and Red Start 3, etc. don’t delay, call in or write to-day, distance no object; all sets installed free.

Advert for A. Borland, 45 Albert Street, Edinburgh News, 25th October 1930

In 1932 you could have a set from Borlands for no deposit and just 3s 6d a week. As the price of sets continued to fall, this payment was down to 3s/week in 1933 and only 2s the following year. You didn’t even need mains electricity, many models worked off a battery which could be taken back to the shop to be recharged.

The expansion of Alex’s business was matched by that of his family. He married Agnes Wight in 1930 and two sons would follow; Alexander Stanley (junior) in 1933 and William Wight in 1936. Mary Borland died that year, aged 61, having kept her paper and sweetie shop going next door. Business growth continued and in 1935 the shop familiar to generations at 7 Croall Place on Leith Walk, then trading as McDonald Radio, was purchased. This meant that although it was one of the longest-established businesses on Leith Walk, it wasn’t quite the oldest. Miller’s Linoleum Warehouse has been at number 177 for five more years, the predecessors of Scotmid Co-op have been at 368-370 Leith Walk since way back in 1906 and the Central Bar has been going since 1903.

At Croall Place, Borlands expanded into selling domestic furniture – something else you could get on hire purchase – from this shop. He also owned a number of workshops and garages off the lane behind Albert Place with newspaper adverts recording the occasional motorcyle, car or van for sale. This growing empire is evidence of a successful, self-made businessman. When Leith moved to automatic exchange dialling in July 1936, he was one of a number of prominent local traders who took out adverts in the Evening News to inform the public of this technological update:

The Borlands sons would join the business in the 1950s and the photograph below shows William Wight Borland in the door of 7 Croall Place, probably in the late ‘1950s ‘Fifties or early ‘Sixties. They remained a bicycle dealer in the former decade, adverts in 1951 noting they had over 100 in stock and dealt in the Coventry Eagle, Triumph and New Hudson brands on hire purchase. Although the sign above the door reads “Radio. Cycles“, not “Darts. Television“, the observant listener will notice from the window display that the latter new market had already been entered. Adverts in the ‘News suggest this was around 1954 (the Coronation in 1953 having kick-started the British addiction to television) and in 1961 they told the public that one could rent “a slim television from 9s 6d weekly” from Borlands. Alexander senior would die a few years later in 1966 at the age of 62, his sons taking over the reins.

The Borland USP of mixing hire-purchase home entertainment with goods for a single sport perhaps began around 1954 when bikes appear to have been supplanted by golf clubs and paraphernalia. Although newspaper adverts seem to dry when the sons took over the business, they return in the early 1980s by which time golf was on the way out and in came snooker and – most importantly – darts. It may seem to younger readers, or those outwith the UK, that this was an unusual combination however both sports were enjoying massive popularity at the time thanks, appropriately, to colour television.

William Wight Borland died at in 1991 aged just 55, by which time he was running 45 Albert Street as a property development and letting agency. His brother Alexander continued to run 7 Croall Place but died just two years later in 1993 aged 60, by which time the definitive signage and product lines of just Darts and Television had been settled on. His wife of thirty years, Maureen, took over the reins at this time. An unexpected degree of fame was brought to the shop that year when Irvine Welsh and Kevin Williamson featured it in their alternative Visitor’s Guide to Edinburgh. Welsh returned to the shop in 1996 with Damon Albarn in tow during a chaotic and well-oiled pub crawl of the city, the Blur frontman buying a bowling bag at Croall Place. The pair had journalist Craig McLean in tow with the idea the day might provide a launch article for a new pop culture magazine, instead they got drunken chaos. The inebriated Albarn had to be taken back to the Malmaison hotel by McLean (who relates he had to undress him and put him to bed) while Welsh disappeared off to Glasgow to watch Hibs only to end up being arrested. An unimpressed Maureen Borland would later tell the Evening News “[he] came in here once with that guy from Blur, Damon Albarn. They came in with cans of lager and I think they’d been to a pub after the football… I’m not a lover of what he writes. This shop’s a family business.”

Maureen continued to run the shop as it long had been until 2021, when she died aged 78, when it was carried on by her second husband – Ray Withey. It was a remarkable survivor, having weathered the storms of both Covid and the debacle that was the Edinburgh Trams project on Leith Walk (the latter bringing more than a handful of long-standing business to their knees). The business had found its unusual product niche and stuck rigidly to it (with the more recent exception of offering key cutting). Trade was conducted on paper and with cash. It never entered the digital age, there was no web address and certainly no social media: just a postal address and telephone number. If you ever found reason to cross its unassuming threshold you would be confronted with a very traditional layout, the proprietor behind a counter surrounded by a vast array of stock neatly presented in display cases and hanging on the walls. Whether it was flights for your darts or co-axial cable by the metre, price tags were neatly written by hand. Polite but firm notices kept you in your place: don’t touch and no more than 10 minutes on the practice board.

Ray Withey passed away in 2025 at the age of 69, and with him the shutters at 7 Croall Place were pulled down for the final time, ending a 100 year family story.

If you have found this site useful, informative or amusing then you can help contribute towards its running costs by supporting me on ko-fi. This includes my commitment to keeping it 100% advert and AI free for all time coming, and in helping to find further unusual stories to bring you by acquiring books and paying for research.
Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends and like-minded people, sites like this thrive on being shared.

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These threads © 2017-2026, Andy Arthur.

NO AI TRAINING: Any use of the contents of this website to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.

Darts and Television. The thread about Borlands of Croall Place

A small but nevertheless significant ripple spread across social media just the other day when it was picked up that the premises of Borlands, a legendary shop on Leith Walk, was for sale. This establishment is well known both for its longevity (“Estd. 1925” above the door) and its no-nonsense signage that boldly proclaimed its unusual pairing of product lines. Darts. Television.

Darts and television go together like fish and chips.

Irvine Welsh and Kevin Williamson, writing on the subject of Borlands, 1993

Very little in print media seems ever to have been written about the place, although for a business with no web presence it ironically maintained a somewhat cult following online. There’s more to the Borlands story than just darts and television, so let Threadinburgh take the opportunity to mark the passing of a long-standing pillar of the Leith Walk business community by expanding on it a little bit for you.

Our story begins with Mary Borland (1879-1936), who ran a small newsagent and sweet shop at 47 Albert Street, further down Leith Walk. A widow, the 1921 Census shows she lived in the tenement next door (number 49) with her 17 year-old son Alexander Stanley (apprentice cooper), 14 year-old daughter Beatrice and her 46-year old brother Alexander McPherson, a shipbuilder at Cran & Somerville’s yard in Leith. She had been in business since at least 1920 as evidenced by the Valuation Rolls of that year. In 1925, Alexander took over the next door shop to his mother at number 45 and started out in business for himself as a “cycle agent” i.e., selling bicycles on hire purchase. This shop came with a flat behind, which became his home.

His business soon expanded into another new hire-purchase market: wireless radios. The BBC had launched a repeater service (2EH) serving Edinburgh in 1924 but home radio sets remained a luxury for the privileged (or technically capable) few for some time. By the turn of the ‘Thirties however mass production and new manufacturers entering a cut-throat market caused the unit price of sets to drop significantly. This brought them within the financial reach of the masses thanks to consumer credit.

A. B. calling. Stop wondering, your wireless set is here, on easy hire purchase terms; Osram 4, Cossor 3, and Red Start 3, etc. don’t delay, call in or write to-day, distance no object; all sets installed free.

Advert for A. Borland, 45 Albert Street, Edinburgh News, 25th October 1930

In 1932 you could have a set from Borlands for no deposit and just 3s 6d a week. As the price of sets continued to fall, this payment was down to 3s/week in 1933 and only 2s the following year. You didn’t even need mains electricity, many models worked off a battery which could be taken back to the shop to be recharged.

The expansion of Alex’s business was matched by that of his family. He married Agnes Wight in 1930 and two sons would follow; Alexander Stanley (junior) in 1933 and William Wight in 1936. Mary Borland died that year, aged 61, having kept her paper and sweetie shop going next door. Business growth continued and in 1935 the shop familiar to generations at 7 Croall Place on Leith Walk, then trading as McDonald Radio, was purchased. This meant that although it was one of the longest-established businesses on Leith Walk, it wasn’t quite the oldest. Miller’s Linoleum Warehouse has been at number 177 for five more years, the predecessors of Scotmid Co-op have been at 368-370 Leith Walk since way back in 1906 and the Central Bar has been going since 1903.

At Croall Place, Borlands expanded into selling domestic furniture – something else you could get on hire purchase – from this shop. He also owned a number of workshops and garages off the lane behind Albert Place with newspaper adverts recording the occasional motorcyle, car or van for sale. This growing empire is evidence of a successful, self-made businessman. When Leith moved to automatic exchange dialling in July 1936, he was one of a number of prominent local traders who took out adverts in the Evening News to inform the public of this technological update:

The Borlands sons would join the business in the 1950s and the photograph below shows William Wight Borland in the door of 7 Croall Place, probably in the late ‘1950s ‘Fifties or early ‘Sixties. They remained a bicycle dealer in the former decade, adverts in 1951 noting they had over 100 in stock and dealt in the Coventry Eagle, Triumph and New Hudson brands on hire purchase. Although the sign above the door reads “Radio. Cycles“, not “Darts. Television“, the observant listener will notice from the window display that the latter new market had already been entered. Adverts in the ‘News suggest this was around 1954 (the Coronation in 1953 having kick-started the British addiction to television) and in 1961 they told the public that one could rent “a slim television from 9s 6d weekly” from Borlands. Alexander senior would die a few years later in 1966 at the age of 62, his sons taking over the reins.

The Borland USP of mixing hire-purchase home entertainment with goods for a single sport perhaps began around 1954 when bikes appear to have been supplanted by golf clubs and paraphernalia. Although newspaper adverts seem to dry when the sons took over the business, they return in the early 1980s by which time golf was on the way out and in came snooker and – most importantly – darts. It may seem to younger readers, or those outwith the UK, that this was an unusual combination however both sports were enjoying massive popularity at the time thanks, appropriately, to colour television.

William Wight Borland died at in 1991 aged just 55, by which time he was running 45 Albert Street as a property development and letting agency. His brother Alexander continued to run 7 Croall Place but died just two years later in 1993 aged 60, by which time the definitive signage and product lines of just Darts and Television had been settled on. His wife of thirty years, Maureen, took over the reins at this time. An unexpected degree of fame was brought to the shop that year when Irvine Welsh and Kevin Williamson featured it in their alternative Visitor’s Guide to Edinburgh. Welsh returned to the shop in 1996 with Damon Albarn in tow during a chaotic and well-oiled pub crawl of the city, the Blur frontman buying a bowling bag at Croall Place. The pair had journalist Craig McLean in tow with the idea the day might provide a launch article for a new pop culture magazine, instead they got drunken chaos. The inebriated Albarn had to be taken back to the Malmaison hotel by McLean (who relates he had to undress him and put him to bed) while Welsh disappeared off to Glasgow to watch Hibs only to end up being arrested. An unimpressed Maureen Borland would later tell the Evening News “[he] came in here once with that guy from Blur, Damon Albarn. They came in with cans of lager and I think they’d been to a pub after the football… I’m not a lover of what he writes. This shop’s a family business.”

Maureen continued to run the shop as it long had been until 2021, when she died aged 78, when it was carried on by her second husband – Ray Withey. It was a remarkable survivor, having weathered the storms of both Covid and the debacle that was the Edinburgh Trams project on Leith Walk (the latter bringing more than a handful of long-standing business to their knees). The business had found its unusual product niche and stuck rigidly to it (with the more recent exception of offering key cutting). Trade was conducted on paper and with cash. It never entered the digital age, there was no web address and certainly no social media: just a postal address and telephone number. If you ever found reason to cross its unassuming threshold you would be confronted with a very traditional layout, the proprietor behind a counter surrounded by a vast array of stock neatly presented in display cases and hanging on the walls. Whether it was flights for your darts or co-axial cable by the metre, price tags were neatly written by hand. Polite but firm notices kept you in your place: don’t touch and no more than 10 minutes on the practice board.

Ray Withey passed away in 2025 at the age of 69, and with him the shutters at 7 Croall Place were pulled down for the final time, ending a 100 year family story.

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