Inside the Palestinian pop-up shop hoping to open a permanent café in Scotland

Activist Donald Reid, a former church minister, was seeking to give practical help to those in Palestine and suggested to The Alchemy Experiment on Glasgow’s Byres Road about opening a pop-up shop with products from those in the war-torn country.

“People were falling over themselves to help staff here to help make it happen, and people running off the streets trying to just grab stuff, and put money in as donations as well.

“It just proved that people want to do something really, really practical so they buy something.”

READ MORE: UK must recognise state of Palestine NOW, says Palestinian ambassador

This was the the group’s first stint as a pop-up shop in April, and now, they are open and “tapping into the Christmas market hype” until Friday, December 6.

The shop stocks ceramics, embroidered clothing, bags, books, olive oil, chocolate, and jewellery. A lot of the produce is supplied by Hadeel – a non-profit trading arm of the Scottish charity Palcrafts based in Edinburgh, which supports Palestinians artisans. 

A customer earlier in the day had told Reid he felt there wasn’t much he could do, but at least he could buy something that’s been made by somebody in Palestine.

EXC: A Palestinian pop-up shop in Glasgow is hoping to open a permanent cafe to support artisans and businesses in Gaza and the West Bank

We headed along to have a look inside 👇 pic.twitter.com/2hSc6RDxK3

— The National (@ScotNational) December 3, 2024

Meanwhile, Reid, 66, told The National he is in the process of trying to find empty premises and create a business plan.

Reid was previously a minister in the episcopal church in St Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow, and visited Palestine several times.

“The last time was with a delegation of 12 people, I think mainly from the Church of Scotland, and we went to visit a church, and supported projects in Israel and Palestine including Gaza,” he shared.

“I’ve just become more and more aware of the issue, and I get about impatient with going to lots of meetings where people run and tell the same story again.

“I’m just trying to do something which actually has a practical benefit. Here we’re selling stuff that is people’s livelihood at the other end.”

He added: “That’s the idea behind the shop, it’s not a charity, it’s going to be a commercial, high functioning shop and cafe.

“That’s my vision that will hopefully make loads of money and we can send that money, every penny of it profit to charities that we support.”

The shop has set up a mailing list for anyone to register their interest in the cafe. You can sign up here.