Your fantasy high street - just for fun

[Julsb]

I'd like the overpriced boutiques, please.

[leenewham]

In reply to Poppy,

So yes, all for change if it improves the look and feel of the street but get very dissapointed when some shops don't take pride in how they look which I agree again does not make Sydenham look that great.

Gaz

Well said. There is no excuse for any shop to look shabby, especially as it will harm their business. People do judge books by the cover. Same with shops.

LA fitness haven't done themselves any favours. Good gym from what I have heard, but it looks terrible from the outside.

[poppy]

I am sure I have read on this forum or heard at meetings that there are regulations about the appearance of shop fronts on the high street but they are rarely enforced. These must be even more key now that most of it is in a conservation area.

[DigitalFX]

I agree....

Having known peope who have run shops you do have a duty sometimes by contract to ensure that your shop front and in some cases outside your door are kept clean, tidy and presentable.

It is a shame when shops don't take pride, I think that some retailers need to go back to retail school where you were taught how to attract customers and maintain a good working business which meant that you ensured that you had the best looking shop on the street and was proud of it.

I am sure it will improve over time as Sydenham is now getting more people moving in the area and as such, require a better standard of shopping experience than we have now.

Gaz

[sean]

Seeing as this topic is just for fun shouldn't it be in the Pub and not in the serious discussion section?

[DigitalFX]

Hi Sean,

I see your point, it is funny how some topics start off as funny and fantasy posts and then turn into something more serious further down than it was intended to be and visa versa....

So it's a bit of both really.....

Gaz

[El Syd]

So are there any local shopkeepers reading this who want to publicly commit to improve their shopfronts via this forum, or by just getting on and doing it?

[nasaroc]

Like many other posters, I am always amazed that local businesses who want to attract custom cannot simply keep the outside of their premises clean and presentable.

I welcome El Syd's call to any shopkeepers reading this posting to commit to improve their shopfronts. However, I know from talking to most shopkeepers in the high street that they don't have the slightest inkling of the existence of STF. The "best" businesses look at the site constantly - their shops are the best kept. The ones we'd all like to change don't visit websites and wouldn't pay a moment's notice to such comments or criticism, even if they heard them.

Changing the appearance of our high street involves working to implement the conditions of the new Conservation Area as well as the shopfront criteria laid down by the council. It also involves putting pressure on individual businesses particularly chains (Lee mention LA Fitnesss above) to make improvements. It also involves encouraging new businesses to come here.

I'm very happy to let you know how you can do this - or to join in a campaign of letter writing and petitioning - if others are willing to join me.

But it does involve doing a little more than just puttting a posting on a website.