The business was started in 1991 as Cammo Fine Art. Working from home, in the Cammo area of Edinburgh we sold oil paintings by mail order. This quickly developed into picture framing, with new customers being found by pre-arranged home visits. After about a year a purpose - built workshop was added to the house and customers were invited to visit the premises instead of being visited. This increased the amount of time spent making frames. I studied for and gained my Guild Commended Framer qualification from the Fine Art Trade Guild in 1996. For 4 years this was how we operated, until the opportunity of a commercial property arose.
We opened the shop on 18th May 1997 with our workshop at the back. The name was changed to Blackhall Framing Gallery so people would know where we were and what the business did. Over the years we have refurbished the shop several times, adding in different lines to complement the picture framing and the prints we displayed on the walls of the shop. In the past we have sold art materials, gifts, jewellery, ornaments, stationery items and craft materials.
in 2006 we took stock of the business and decided to concentrate on what we do best- good quality custom picture framing. Over the next months we gradually sold off our excess stock, finishing with the art materials in December 2008. We now stock good quality Scottish art, art-led greetings cards on Scottish themes, a large range of craft kits for children aged from 5 upwards and adults. We also do our own line of ready-made frames and sundries such as tapes and picture hooks for the home framer and DIYer.
In 2007 we introduced a computer-based pricing system for the framing along with a computerised visualisation programme which allows the customer to see how their finished framing will look. This has proved a big success. The system is also used for stock control, enabling us to know at a glance how much moulding stock we have on hand.
Late 2007, on leaving University, my elder son Grahame joined me in the business. Over the years he has grown up with the business and has brought a new, young eye to how we run the shop. We brought into the business a computerised mountcutter and set up Madaboutmounts, our online shop selling mounts and sundries to the general public and other framers. We also changed the type of mountboard we used to Alphamat Artcare which is an archival quality board which protects your artwork from acid damage.
In January 2009 we introduced a hot drinks machine, offering complimentary drinks to customers while they wait to be served by our 3 fully-trained framers who all are able to advise and design the frame with the customer.
Our aim is to offer the customer a professional service in the welcoming, friendly atmosphere of a family-run business. We have many regular customers and a continual stream of new ones, who are testament to the belief that that is what our customers want. We will continue to improve the shop and our service in the years ahead.
Mary and Grahame Case
