Legendary family-run greengrocers Rankins of Edinburgh recalled by those who knew it best

Back in the days when the greengrocer was king, there was one family-run chain that was top banana in the Capital.

Known for their high calibre produce, Rankin’s fruit and flowers shops were once ubiquitous operating more than twenty branches from Corstorphine to Musselburgh down the years and employing 400 staff across their retail and wholesale divisions in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool and London.

The seeds of the family business were sown in 1912, when two entrepreneurial brothers, Peter and William Rankin, started selling fruit and vegetables from a hand cart in Infirmary Street.

By the end of the First World War, the family had shops at Portobello High Street and St Patrick Square with many more to follow.

From humble beginnings sprouted three generations of prosperity that saw Rankin’s ripen into a much-loved Edinburgh institution towards the end of the century.

Last October, almost 34 years to the day since the business was sold, the Rankin family hosted a reunion for former staff at Ryan’s Bar in Edinburgh’s West End.

The poignant meet up was led by Dorothy McQueen, née Rankin, whose first job was in the family business aged just 13 while still at school.

Dorothy was browsing the Lost Edinburgh Facebook group a couple of years ago when she stumbled upon a thread inquiring if members could recall Rankin’s.

Staggered by people’s responses, Dorothy launched a dedicated Facebook page, Rankins of Edinburgh.

The page’s following grew fast and, before long, it became clear that a reunion was on the cards. For Dorothy, there could be only one venue for such an event.

“Ryan’s Bar was the obvious choice, because that was the biggest shop,” Dorothy, 55, told the Evening News.

“If you go to their website, one of the first things that’s mentioned is the bar used to be a Rankin’s shop.

“They [the Ryan’s Bar staff] were quite excited about it and were absolutely brilliant with us.”

Among the 23 attendees at Ryan’s Bar was Elaine Gurr, who cut flowers on those very premises as a 14-year-old in the late seventies.

“I worked there till I was ready to leave school then worked for about eight years in the fruit market at Chesser,” recalls Elaine, 55, whose late mother, a bookeeper, was also a Rankin’s employee.

“I was cutting flowers and used to come home with every finger covered in thorns, because you had to do it in a certain way.

“I’ve got really happy memories of Rankin’s and they were always very kind. My mother had crippling arthritis - she could hardly walk - and Mr Peter [Rankin] almost always made sure she got a lift home.

“I don’t know of anybody saying anything bad about working there.”

While much of their produce was grown at their market garden in Portobello, Rankin’s sold apples, oranges and bananas from the Americas and imported a whole host of more exotic items from the far flung corners of the world, giving the shops a boutique reputation.

Dorothy McQueen said: “Rankin’s wasn’t a cheap shop, but it was expensive because it was quality and people will tell you that.