Possibility of a new cafe in Sydenham

[leenewham]

I agree that there is enough room for another cafe if it offer something a little different.

Especially if it offers something in the evening.

There is ore than one pound shop, more than one shop selling secondhand jun...I mean goods, more than one hairdressers (loads in fact, seems we spend more time cutting our hair than eating) and more than one estate agents.

The trick is to make the experience different.

[natbeuk]

Totally agree. Nice shopfront, slightly different and good quality food at a good price, great coffee, good and friendly service... there's always room for that.

Just the other week my friend and I thought we would meet for coffee after work, seeing as we both live in Sydenham but work in completely different locations. Guess what, we couldn't - there was literally nowhere for us to to go unless we went down to the Dolphin which we didn't really want to do as it was a café that we were after. I'm sure we're not the only people in the area who've found themselves in this situation before!

[castiron73]

It's pretty well known that having more than one restaurant, pub or cafe in close proximity is good for business because people turn up or arrange to meet knowing they have other options if one is full.

I do think evening opening hours would be great. We often travel to Beckenham or Dulwich for pizza with our children in the early evening. There just isn't an option in Sydenham.


Space would be good too. What I don't understand is why we have the largest pound shops in the world, veritable Tardises of Tat, and yet the tiniest cafes. How can one be viable and not the other? It's probably to do with rents or rates for the different type of premises, but surely some owner could try getting consent for change of use? Wasn't Apollo permitted to be an internet cafe or does that not count?

[scott.l.hamilton]

I agree with your comments about the limited size of cafes, yet the massive size of £ shops etc. Unfortunately, the change of use applications to permit the preparation of food and selling can be a bit tedious to obtain. You generally get objections from residents above and adjacent to the proposed venue due to smell, noise from early and late deliveries, potential rodents, and increased noise if they are open later for dinner crowds or earlier for breakfast. While not insurmountable, it does put some independent traders off. We are hoping to "overcome" some of these issues by having a sound business case for new businesses consider the area and to be willing to take the effort of applying for a change of use to get the right premises.

This is just one of the areas we are hoping to influence in our "local Initiative". (have yet to come up with a snappy acronym)

Anyway, I digress... Thans to those sending in their opinions and feedback. It is really helpful.

[Juwlz]

We definately need upmarket places to eat in the evening. Think about it - most of the people with the most money to spend work in town in the day but want somewhere nice to go in the evenings. I think if this new place does turn into a sort of bistro/wine bar in the the evenings it'll be a big hit.
As previously suggested, something like Domali would be ideal.

[poppy]

I also think location is key. We already have two good cafes at Cobbs Corner so either futher up Kirkdale or down closer to Somerfield end might be a safer bet. I noticed yesterday that a new cafe has opened directly opposite Lemon Grove (is that the right name?) in Forest Hill and it looked empty.

After only having Provender on Dartmouth road for years then two 'quality' cafes opposite each other I think this could be a bad move because they are only likely to have to split trade, unless they are doing very different things (although Sugarhill and Blue Mountain are quite close I suppose and neither ever looks empty) So I might have talked myself out of that one!

[lizzie]

Yes, location is key, and the area that really needs the development is in the high street, currently dominated by tatty pound shops and nailbars, not further up Kirkdale. It's the bit between the station and the Dolphin that really needs to be concentrated on. Further down Sydenham Road towards Sainsburys is another story... one step at a time, though. If the central high street is perked up abit, good things will spread in both directions in time.

[natbeuk]

I hope you're right on that theory, that sprucing up the central high street will spread improvement outwards! There are some really nice old buildings Kirkdale, up towards Dartmouth Road just opposite the new apartments (the ones painted red), and it seems such a shame that the shops are either empty or in serious need of redecoration. If you look upwards you can see the nice brickwork but at street level it just looks a mess!

The pub on the corner, The Fox, has just had a coat of paint but it still looks scary on the outside. And don't even get me started on The Windmill opposite...

Anyway, I digress from the thread topic. Sorry!

[noplacelikehome]

I agree that there must be scope for new business at the top of Kirkdale - the nearly finished flats where OoolaBoola used to be, and the other development of flats on the corner of Dartmouth Road will bring new customers - probably young first timebuyers/ renters. That's Amore does indeed do a roaring trade, proving that people are still eating out despite the boring old 'credit crunch.'