Busy Edinburgh bakery says would-be thief ‘threatened staff with wooden knives’

The alleged incident took place at Kilted Donut on Leith Walk over the weekend. According to the shop's owners, a man entered the bakery before attempting to steal cash. The man reportedly picked up wooden knives and swore at staff after being challenged.

Kilted Donut's management recalled the terrifying incident on social media, saying the safety of their staff is paramount.

Posting on Instagram, they wrote: “Today we had another incident of someone walking into the shop and trying to steal.

Our front of house member was in the back and one of the owners was in. The owner confronted him and his response was ‘f*** you, what are you going to do about it?’ while he grabbed a handful of wooden knives.

“We have never had this before when we had our old location in Leith. The safety of our staff is paramount, so as of Monday 28th of April, our Leith Walk shop will no longer be accepting cash.”

Police Scotland has been approached for comment.

Kilted Donut was recently forced to close one of its three city branches, citing financial difficulties as the main reason.

As reported in the Evening News, the cult bakery's shop on Morningside Road shut in March, just eight months after it opened, due to “rising costs”.

Known for its fresh homemade artisan donuts, the bakery started its journey as a stall at Leith Market back in 2017. Popularity saw the owners open their own shop on Great Junction Street a year later. That venue closed in 2022, but Kilted Donut still has branches in Leith Walk and the Grassmarket.

According to co-owner Mark Anderson, they were forced to sacrifice the Morningside branch in order to save the other two.

Speaking to the Evening News, he said: “Sadly, we had to make the decision to close our Morningside location. The rising costs for our ingredients, energy and other bills have seen our costs dramatically increase. Unfortunately, this has coincided with a cost of living increase and we were just not seeing the turnover that we had hoped for.

“This year we have also already seen a dramatic drop in tourists and footfall in our Grassmarket location than the same time last year. In order to ensure the Kilted Donut survives we had to close Morningside as it was the location that was bringing in the least amount and was not covering its operating costs.

“This closure has meant we are able to continue trading at our other two locations in Grassmarket and Leith Walk.”