RebuildTheGreyhound - pub to be rebuilt by April 2015?

[parker]

Would seem Sainsbury's have given the go ahead as the pub building nears completion... Maybe Sainsbury's know something we don't about what The Greyhound building will be... At least what we do know is that it won't be a mini supermarket if Sainsbury's are going right behind it. No reason at all why a pub chain like Antic or Beer Revolution can't make a go of a site like this. It will be a breath of fresh air for this area to look alive again.

[Robin Orton]

How about a mosque? That's one thing that is notably missing from the high street. It'd be nice to think that we were being prayed for every Friday.

[stuart]

How about a mosque? That's one thing that is notably missing from the high street.

You mean catch up with Camberwell who have already turned a pub into an Islamic Centre - the irony, the irony

[_HB]

Couldn't possibly think of a more fitting demonstration of the dystopian future that we are inexorably slipping towards. A dark and evil ideology, corrupting our youth and threatening a complete take over of everything we hold dear. Anyone else just really, really hate Tesco?

[Rachael]

Would a Sainsburys by the Greyhound serve people coming to and from the station from Kirkdale / Westwood Hill direction?

[parker]

I would have thought there were another 104 opportunities to buy the same goods within a square mile.

But having the store situated anywhere within a mile is not much good to me when I'm hungry in the morning and have just minutes to spare before my train arrives. It'll be in a more useful position for the hundreds using Sydenham station in the mornings and evenings in the proposed Greyhound position. As either way you will pass it to or from your train journey (unless you choose to use the bridge in the station). Besides Sainsbury's will be the classiest shop in Sydenham after it's larger sister in Bell Green!

[Eagle]

Parker

Surely one would break ones fast at home prior to setting out for the Station.

You make out JW Sainsbury is the nearest thing to Godlyinest . As much as one admires their retail skills they are only mortal.

[mosy]

...[clip]... Besides Sainsbury's will be the classiest shop in Sydenham after it's larger sister in Bell Green!

Ouch, some existing retailers might take issue with that comment. I'd ask whether "classiest" tops, or should be compared to, "usefulness" in terms of desirability. Meaning that pop-in mini supermarket whose bread and butter trade is a couple or three items tend to survive. I do think that if a Sainsbury's does arrive, it will give life to the adjacent retail outlets which could otherwise be overlooked. (Shops have to be really special to become "go to" shops on their own merit.)

[parker]

I was only joking about Sainsbury's being classy, but as Waitrose and M&S won't touch Sydenham with a barge pole, Sainsbury's is the classiest supermarket that's ever likely to grace Sydenham, which I find quite sad, so I'm saying we should be pleased they give Sydenham and SE London in general the look-in they do.

[parker]

I'm saying we should be pleased they give Sydenham and SE London in general the look-in they do.

Yes, thank you so much Sainsburys for bestowing your grace upon us and saving people from walking 3 minutes out of their way as they get their breakfast from the supermarket before work.

Now which one of us will write to Lord Sainsbury to say thank you?

Well I don't see any other retailers snapping up any of the other units in the area. It's London zone 3, couldn't be nearer to the train station, how on earth is this not hot property...

[mosy]

Rent and rates?

[I hammer]

Could be worse. Zanzibar might put in a bid.

[parker]

Rent and rates?

Yes only chain stores or multinationals can afford them. It's why all the outlets recently opened at the revamped Waterloo Station were chains.

Prime location business properties are marketed at the usual suspects. It is why high streets and stations and airports are dull and interchangeable. It's why the claims that this is a free market are spurious.

But Sydenham is cheap in comparison to most of London (Waterloo), why aren't all the units occupied by different chains if this is the case? If it wasn't for Sainsbury's, the unit it is taking would probably be an empty shell like the others. Large retailers should be jumping at the opportnity to open all over Sydenham Road. I think the fact that chains like WHSmith, Woolworths and McDonald's (which would typically be found on most high streets) never had stores in Sydenham historically suggests that the area has had problems attracting investment decades ago.

[Pat Trembath]

I'm reasonably sure Sydenham had a Woolworth's where Supadrug is now. Anyone remember? That retail unit has undergone a number of different retailers in its fairly (comparatively) short history.

Anyway back to the Sainsbury's unit - I understand they are recruiting.

[Eagle]

Yes Pat

Sydenham had a FW Woolworth's for decades.

Cannot recall when it closeed , but you are correct it was where Superdrug now is.

[Dmitri]

Couldn't possibly think of a more fitting demonstration of the dystopian future that we are inexorably slipping towards. A dark and evil ideology, corrupting our youth and threatening a complete take over of everything we hold dear. Anyone else just really, really hate Tesco?

+1

[JRobinson]

Surely the fact that we don't have McD's, Burger King, and KFC, on our high st. would be a positive thing?!

[biscuitman1978]

The Greyhound is now to let or for sale...

[parker]

Surely the fact that we don't have McD's, Burger King, and KFC, on our high st. would be a positive thing?!

Not really, when in its place are those grotty chicken shops. I would rather a KFC or Burger King than a Morley's, or whatever they're called, there are plenty spanning Sydenham Road, some are so bad they won't even display their FSA hygiene rating. Doesn't that tell you we actually have even less of a positive thing than a KFC or Burger King JRobinson? I know what I'd prefer if we were given the choice. We can't be blinkered here when we know we can expect a certain standard and a decent hygiene rating on display that you'll usually find on the door of the multinational fast food outlets that can't be said for some of the chicken shops and kebab houses in Sydenham.

[biscuitman1978]

The Greyhound is now to let or for sale...

Sales particulars are now available - http://www.acorncommercial.co.uk/proper ... ils/11743/

£720,000 if anyone fancies taking it on...