If you are looking for Moray shopping opportunities, Elgin is the largest town and also the administrative and commercial hub for the area.
In line with the experience of many towns over the last 20 years, retail developments have sprung up outwith the town centre and the feeling is that this has had a negative impact on the Central Business District.
Elgin Business Improvement District (Elgin BID) was formed to try to reverse this trend. It has had a lot of success and continues to be active.
Elgin has a central Shopping Centre at the St Giles Centre. South Street recently branded itself ‘The Wedding Street’ because of the number of wedding-related businesses in and around the thoroughfare.
Elgin High Street has been pedestrianised for a number of years to improve the general shopping experience. It has a mixture of local businesses and national chains.
There are two main supermarkets in Elgin – Tesco and Asda. There is a substantial Retail Park adjacent to Asda’s premises at Edgar Road, New Elgin, including stores such as Dixons, B & Q, Homebase, Sports Direct and Matalan.
West of Forres at Brodie, on the A96, is Brodie Countryfare, which sells high quality goods and also has a Café/Restaurant.
At Fochabers, also on the A96, Baxters of Speyside (an internationally recognised food brand) have their home and headquarters (also with shops selling high quality goods and a Café/Restaurant).
In smaller towns, such as Lossiemouth and Aberlour, the Co-operative Group provide the main supermarkets.