That's a great idea, Steve. Seconded!Steveofsyd wrote:I would imagine that it would be good for them to invest in the super fast finer optic broadband so that he youngsters can use will-fi easily. That would help in the winter as people would stay or hours drinking coffee and "surfing"
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Hi art4, thought we should invite you to Love Harlemart4 wrote:A good gift shop would be my first choice- home wares, prints or affordable art, locally made crafts, childrens toys....
Our pop up shop at 172 where Sydenham Road meets Kent House Road is a lifestyle boutique selling homewares, locally made crafts, accessories, books and stationery, so hopefully that should tick some of the boxes on your wishlist leenewham wrote:Hi Maria, I popped in to see William but he was a bit busy the few times I popped in.
The issue with 'shop lists' is that people often say they would like to see something but it's not what would always work or what they would use. It's often 'I like the idea of shop X' but it's not how I really shop or what I'd buy. I've seen this in high street after high street.
The issue is that people like choice. That's why shopping malls group like minded shops together. It's why supermarkets sell 20 different flavours of pasta sauce, numerous types of flavoured hummous and HP Sauce now comes in 5 varieties. That's why people go to busy shopping centres to buy stuff or shop online. Choice. It's why there are lots of similar types of shops in Crystal Palace, it's makes it a destination. People like to browse. Throw in a coffee shop or two, make the street nice and the environment attractive and make it family friendly or even better, entertaining and you have a thriving, vibrant high street.
• I like the idea of a deli, but I know I'd probably not use it, unless it was really a cafe, like Aga's Deli in Forest Hill.
• I'd probably use a children's clothes shop, but a good selection or possibly a used section would be good.
• We have lots of great clothes shops in Sydenham (they are called Charity shops), and I probably use them more than any other. But the issue is stock (The Red Cross place in First Hill is the best locally). In Crystal Palace there is a brilliant shop where people take their (good quality) clothes to and they sell them for you, for a commission. I think that could work here, if clustered with other shops.
• A nursery. What better place to have one. They drive early morning and afternoon footfall and help fill up local cafes with like minded parents who want to share stories or moan about how their kids kept them up all night and they can't find one of their shoes.
• Something creative. Especially something that has workshops in them. We are working with a gallery/creative workshop space in Brockley and it's a great idea. There are SO many creative people locally, artists, designers, illustrators. Yet we struggle to draw them out into the high street.
• More restaurants to drive the nighttime economy and give people a choice. Crystal Palace does this really well. It's a shame Harbour (insert number here) wasn't the Turkish Restaurant that would have given us something different. A thai place, Vietnamese (two hungry bees please, their food is incredible), a mexican (a good one, like the Ambriento street food, not the awful place that is now an accountants). Or how about a permanent street food market, under cover similar to Wholefoods in Kensington? I'd go.
• Food. Sydenham Road does food pretty well, but it needs more variety and now just 'cheap'. We need aspiration. I'd like somewhere that does organic. We like Wellbeing, but many of our local convenience stores and supermarkets sell EXACTLY the same thing. That's not choice. We now shop with Able and Cole, partly because it' makes cooking veggies fun and you get weird stuff and creative ways to cook it. Billings offer that with meat, why can't we do this with veggies.
• Family Friendly. I totally agree with other posters here, Sydenham Road isn't very family Friendly. But it's getting better. The Street Food evening at the Dolphin was packed, with lots of families. Businesses here are missing out on this.
Strong vibrant high streets need a mix of businesses (to cater for all incomes including aspirational), and strong clusters of similar businesses to offer the choice people crave. Basically, high streets need to learn a bit from Supermarkets and adapt. It's more difficult to adapt when you don't have many empty shops, which is part of Sydenham's problem. Hastings got really low, and that helped it rejuvenate. Same with Dartmouth Road, East Dulwich, Crystal Palace.