RETAILERS hailed the reopening of garden centres and hairdressers in Scotland
A steady stream of plant lovers visited the West End Garden Centre in Glasgow on Monday after it opened its doors to the public in the latest relaxation of lockdown measures.
Owner Martin McCarron, who opened the centre around two years ago, said the phone had been "ringing non-stop with people desperate for us to reopen" and that customers "have been so happy to get out".
He said: "We've been doing home deliveries which has been reasonably busy but there is a big appetite to get out yourself.
"I think this lockdown made people appreciate plants. There is a lot more demand for people growing their own fruit and veg, there's a big movement towards self-sufficiency and appetite for anything local.
"People are just desperate to get going."
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Diggers and labourers were working around the centre constructing a new shop which will offer a range of seeds and bulbs and more options for indoor plants, he said.
Along with garden centres, hairdressers and barbers reopened on Monday along with homeware stores and car showrooms.
Tony Mann opened his barber shop in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, at 6am to enable people to get their hair cut for the first time in months.
He had 96 customers booked in until 8pm.
Mr Mann said: "It's been four months since the last day we cut hair so the feeling today is slight anxiety and slight worry, like 'is everything going to go to plan', but I'm also feeling really excited and happy because my shop is open again.
"We start at 6am and finish at 8pm.”
David Lonsdale, SRC director, said the moves "to start to unwind some of the elevated lockdown restrictions are positive steps".
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