Edinburgh man ditches bar manager job and opens 'dream' shop near The Meadows

An Edinburgh man took a leap and opened his dream shop near The Meadows - but says it didn't come without stressful moments.

Milosz Kolacz, 25, opened the doors to Meadow Tea on Monday, November 18, after his "dream" became a reality.

Selling a range of loose leaf tea, the 25-year-old said he always wanted to open his own business after working as a bar manger in the capital for seven years.

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He said he finally found the motivation to take the leap to open his shop and built the entire interior himself and said he couldn't have done it without support from his friends and family.

He added: "Herbal tea has always been something I loved and I knew I wanted to have my own shop - it's always been my dream.

"I didn't want to work for anyone else really but I worked as a bar manager for seven years. I recently found the motivation to push myself to open something of my own and I found a store available for rent and I got it.

"I built the entire store myself, including all the wooden furniture in the store. I did get help from my friends and my mum with painting and things which saved me a lot of time and energy because I knew I wanted to have it all finished by Christmas."

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Located at 101 St Leonards Street, Milosz said opening the shop had its "up's and down's" but he is excited for the future ahead.

He added: "The interest so far has been great. The people who have come in the shop so far have either been people who have seen me build it over the past few months, or people who are casually walking by.

"I love to interact with people - I always have. Although I enjoyed doing it within hospitality - I wanted to have a shop so I could take to people on a different basis.

"It's been stressful don't get me wrong. I am the kind of person who doesn't show people they are stressed but I definitely was.

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"It was just a lot of organising and I had many ups and downs but I am really excited for the future."

You can find out more here.