Owners call time on popular Selkirk cafe Fletcher’s

One of Selkirk’s most popular cafes closed its doors for good at the weekend, with the loss of four jobs and dozens of loyal customers.

The owners of Fletcher’s in Hillside Terrace took to social media earlier this month to inform their 600-plus followers of the closure, and shut up shop just over one week later.

Megan and Scott McGregor, who have run the cafe for the past four years, say the main reason for the closure is to allow them to spend more time with their young children, as well as the building requiring some upgrading.

“We would have kept it on longer but family life has changed,” Megan said. “We have had another baby and it has been quite difficult to juggle both the cafe and family commitments.

“We just wanted a bit more family time and Scott was ready for a job with a little less responsibility.”

The cafe, something of a Selkirk institution, is renowned for its purple paint job, and was previously run by Megan’s parents Isobel and David Sanderson, from Galashiels.

Isobel worked for Danny Kennedy when it was Kennedy’s cafe before taking it over herself around eight years ago.

“Mum painted it purple and renamed it Fletcher’s when she took on the cafe,” Megan said. “She had not long lost her own mum and that was her favourite colour so it was a tribute to her.

“She got a bit of stock for that at first when she turned it from grey to purple, but people got used to it.”

After they retired four years ago, the business was passed over to Megan, 32 and her husband Scott, 33, a chef.

But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for the Galashiels couple.

“We took a massive hit with the road closure in Selkirk a couple of years ago,” Megan said. “It really affected the business, as I am sure it did others in the town.

“We have spent a lot of time trying to come back from that.”

And while the couple will now have more time to spend with children Carly, 10, and Argyll, 15 months, they will constantly have a reminder of their time at the helm of the cafe.

“We loved the name so gave our son Fletcher as a middle name,” Megan, who worked at the cafe from time to time alongside Scott, two waitresses and a part-time chef, added. “Sunday was a really emotional day for us.

“Customers have been so lovely coming in and giving us well wishes.

“A lot of our regular customers are service users who come in with their carers.

“That has been quite difficult. You build up a relationship with these people when you are seeing them a couple times a week so that has been really tough.”

“They have been really supportive.”