13/06/2026
📸 Introducing: The Portrait Project!
Our young people are out and about in Kirriemuir, photographing and interviewing the people who make the town special. Through portraits and conversations, they’re capturing the stories, memories and personalities that make our community unique.
For our very first interview, we met the lovely Liz from the Star Rock Shop Confectionery Shop 🍬
Q: How did you come to own or work in the shop?
A: I worked for the Gin Bothy, and Kim, who runs the Gin Bothy, knew I was looking for something different, although I wasn’t quite sure what. She told me the shop was for sale.
At the time, I didn’t know much about the shop because I’d never owned one before and hadn’t worked in a shop for a very long time. I came to have a look and realised there was much more to it than just being a shop. There were the recipes and the sweet-making that goes on behind the scenes, which made it really interesting.
That was Christmas 2017. I came to visit the shop between Christmas and New Year and the rest is history.
Q: What is the most challenging part of your job?
A: Juggling orders and stock levels more than anything else. Running both a website and a physical shop at the same time makes it difficult to predict how much stock I need.
You never know when someone will walk in, see a sweet they haven’t had for years, and say, “I’ll take the rest of the jar.” Suddenly you’re out of stock and scrambling to find more, so it can be quite chaotic.
Q: Do you have any memorable stories involving customers?
A: Lots and lots!
One of the best was probably five or six years ago. A lady came into the shop with her daughters. One daughter had travelled from Ireland and another lived down south. The lady herself lived in St Andrews.
She told me she used to live upstairs above the shop. When I asked when, she said she was five years old at the time. Her father owned the shop in the 1940s. She was in her eighties when she visited and shared all her memories of growing up here, living above the shop and helping out. It was fascinating to hear her stories.
Q: How long has the shop been here?
A: The building was originally a house before it became a shop. At some point around 193 years ago it became a shop. We know it was operating as a shop in 1833, although we don’t know the exact date.
Q: What makes Kirriemuir town centre special?
A: The people.
Really, this shop belongs to the people because it has been here for generations and is part of their memories. The shop wouldn’t still be here if the people of Kirriemuir didn’t keep coming in and supporting it.
The same is true for many of the independent shops in the town centre. People need to be willing to shop locally.
Q: What are your favourite places in the town?
A: That’s a difficult one!
I enjoy having a quiet coffee on a Monday afternoon when nobody is around. When you’re in the shop all day, you don’t always get to enjoy the town itself.
I like popping into other local businesses and chatting to people. I enjoy visiting 88 and seeing Michaela. One of my favourite things about being here is getting to know the other shop owners because we’re all in similar situations.
At Christmas, I practically live in the shop. I’ll come in at seven in the morning and sometimes won’t go home until ten or eleven at night. Because of that, I do all of my Christmas shopping in Kirriemuir and eat locally as much as possible.
I think it’s important to support other local businesses because if we don’t support each other, we risk losing them. So really, one of my favourite things is simply visiting different places around town and catching up with people.
