I spoke with the workmen in the old curtain shop this morning while on my way to get my mop cut at Smart Chaps (I made Einstein look like Vidal Sasson before).
Guess what this important, visible site next to one of the proposed pocket parks is going to be (according to the workmen)?
A cafe perhaps?
Nope, cold, miles away.
A restaurant to take advantage of the pocket park with chairs and tables outside?
Wrong again. Not every good at this are you?
Perhaps a really good retail business, shoe shop, clothes shop to take advantage of the large window space to display stock?
Nil point.
A furniture store as it's quite large?
Not a hope in hell.
How about a gallery, the large windows would be an excellent place to entice people in to have a look at what's on offer and it ties in nicely with Sydenham's excellent Arts Festival? After all we have lots of artists here and only a few stops own the line is Goldsmiths, which gave the world some of the most famous artists around today like Damien Hurst.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. What a stupid idea.
Apparently, the best business for this shop, what Sydenham REALLY needs is…
Wait for it, you will kick yourself for not thinking of this one…
A FUNERAL PARLOUR.
Yep, that's right. A funeral parlour.
Apparently.
It can take pride of place right opposite the new mosaic and the new pocket park. Perhaps fitting for the direction Sydenham road is taking?
I hope… I pray (and I ain't the praying kind) that the builder was pulling my leg/wrong/in the wrong shop and area and quickly ran over to wherever he was supposed to be (delete where necessary).
THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
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CaptainCarCrash
- Posts: 2852
- Joined: 23 Jun 2009 20:04
- Location: Even further than before
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
Death is a lucrative business, It's a master stroke.
With an endless supply of stiffs they'll flourish.
I wish them well.
With an endless supply of stiffs they'll flourish.
I wish them well.
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
So, it's official. The local high street is dead.
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
A load of crap!!!!!! This is just what Sydenham needs to make it's High Street a good place to shop along with it's nail bars and assortment of ha ha interesting shops.
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paultreacy
- Posts: 487
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- Location: Lawrie Park Road
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
And?
It will be paying business rates.
It will employ people.
It will provide a service that's pretty difficult to offer online - so will hopefully stick around.
It wil make the high street look more vibrant, simply by being open.
Yes, it's a landmark site. But, if people want a nice gallery, a cafe etc, then they're going to have to stump up the money and pay for a lease and shopfitters. Not moan when other - perfectly respectable - businesses do just that.
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It will be paying business rates.
It will employ people.
It will provide a service that's pretty difficult to offer online - so will hopefully stick around.
It wil make the high street look more vibrant, simply by being open.
Yes, it's a landmark site. But, if people want a nice gallery, a cafe etc, then they're going to have to stump up the money and pay for a lease and shopfitters. Not moan when other - perfectly respectable - businesses do just that.
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Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
Wrong. Sydenham pioneered the online death business. The big extension at the back is a call centre:dickp wrote:It will provide a service that's pretty difficult to offer online - so will hopefully stick around.
http://www.stevenmearsgroup.co.uk/ and
http://memorialcentre.co.uk/
Stuart
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
So you think that as long as a unit is full with any business, then that's positive for Sydenham?dickp wrote:And?
Yes, it's a landmark site. But, if people want a nice gallery, a cafe etc, then they're going to have to stump up the money and pay for a lease and shopfitters. Not moan when other - perfectly respectable - businesses do just that.
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An empty shop unit is an opportunity. Especially next to a proposed pocket park.
I've nothing against funeral parlors, I don't blame them for setting up shop there. I have had the misfortune to have had to visit them due to family bereavement a few times. But won't there 3 funeral businesses in the high street now (including this one)?
To have a business that everyone hopes they wont have to use in there renders the pocket park basically redundant. A waste of a potentially valuable resource.
Would it therefore be a positive thing if the Greyhound became a betting shop Richard? Or would that be a wasted opportunity?
I think this is a wasted opportunity (wrings hands).
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CaptainCarCrash
- Posts: 2852
- Joined: 23 Jun 2009 20:04
- Location: Even further than before
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
Lee, you're up against stiff competition, literally 
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
Yes, I do. It used to be a curtain shop - which hardly a great use of a prime site.
I'd rather have 20% of something, rather than 100% of nothing. I frankly wouldn't care if it was a KFC. At least it would be providing a service that people wanted.
More generally, too many people appear to have an inflated view about their right to decide what shops exist on the high street. I'd include many groups in that criticism, including council planners, and also local civic societies.
If someone's neighbours starting ordering them what their front garden should contain, and what colour they should paint their windows, they'd rightly tell them to get stuffed because it was nothing to do with them. So why do so many people think they have a right to interfere with the private dealings between a landlord and a tenant, simply because it doesn't accord with how they'd like the high street to "look"?
I'd far rather time was spent encouraging new investors to come to Sydenham, and supporting them when they do. That is what my own work-in-progress scheme hopes to do.
The future "look" of Sydenham can therefore be shaped by which type of businesses "we" "invite" to the area, rather than attempting to stop new people "we" don't like from coming (such as - fo example - objecting via the planning process).
I'd rather have 20% of something, rather than 100% of nothing. I frankly wouldn't care if it was a KFC. At least it would be providing a service that people wanted.
More generally, too many people appear to have an inflated view about their right to decide what shops exist on the high street. I'd include many groups in that criticism, including council planners, and also local civic societies.
If someone's neighbours starting ordering them what their front garden should contain, and what colour they should paint their windows, they'd rightly tell them to get stuffed because it was nothing to do with them. So why do so many people think they have a right to interfere with the private dealings between a landlord and a tenant, simply because it doesn't accord with how they'd like the high street to "look"?
I'd far rather time was spent encouraging new investors to come to Sydenham, and supporting them when they do. That is what my own work-in-progress scheme hopes to do.
The future "look" of Sydenham can therefore be shaped by which type of businesses "we" "invite" to the area, rather than attempting to stop new people "we" don't like from coming (such as - fo example - objecting via the planning process).
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
Gotta say, dickp is winning the debate in my (probably unwanted) opinion! 
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Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
Ok, long reply alert!
You say that the future of Sydenham will be shaped by the businesses we encourage to come here. That's exactly what I've been saying. But we need to find out what those businesses should be, rather than having any business that is willing to fill an empty unit.
What local people and traders think of their high street and the shops they wanted/needed should be important to any investors.
Learning from successful high streets is a good idea, like Hanwell who have turned thing around in the last year by attracting the RIGHT sort of businesses to the area (as decided by the local traders and residents groups…together).
Or how shopping malls do it (the reason why many high streets are struggling is due to the success of these and they all group businesses together and attract the right sorts of businesses. They actively pursue certain brands AND independents). I worked at the design agency that designed Bluewater in Kent and worked on Cribbs Causeway in Bristol.
Or perhaps Markets. Greenwich market is successful. They vet who goes into the market, group businesses together and attract and discourage certain types of stall. I tried to apply on behalf of a friend once. It's very well run and thought out.
Or schemes like BIDS, started in the US and now over here. Kingston First (I met with them yesterday) has done an incredible job raising footfall year on year for the last 7 years, bucking the national trend inspite of competition from Westfield (which as affected almost every area of London) have one empty shop in their high streets, despite many large brands failing like Habitat .
Or Supermarkets, the 'high street under one roof', (I've worked many both here and abroad including the big 4, M&S and Waitrose) possibly the reason why high streets are in such a mess in the first place. They do a lot of research on their customers, demographics, what works in a particular area, how their stores look, how their packaging looks and how their stores feel. How point of sale works and their Christmas campaigns. They vet what they sell, ask customers what their products are like, test what new products do well. I'd have thought that learning from them, what makes them successful would be a good idea for any high street.
I'd have thought that learning from all the above would be a good idea. High streets are rather different from anyones front gardens. Having also now met and worked with various traders groups and councils around London it's clear that the 'get any business into an unlet unit' practice is not only wrong, but also potentially damaging.
It doesn't have to be about telling traders what to do, it's about encouraging the right businesses that local traders and residents feel they both want and need.
The website you are talking about creating is potentially a positive thing for Sydenham Richard, but I'd encourage you to talk to other traders that are already here to ask their opinion of the sorts of businesses that they feel the high street needs to help THEIR trade. Or someone like Mookie Ziv.
If we took this approach then we probably wouldn't have our third funeral home in Sydenham or have wasted the opportunities that the road improvements are supposed to bring.
You say that the future of Sydenham will be shaped by the businesses we encourage to come here. That's exactly what I've been saying. But we need to find out what those businesses should be, rather than having any business that is willing to fill an empty unit.
What local people and traders think of their high street and the shops they wanted/needed should be important to any investors.
Learning from successful high streets is a good idea, like Hanwell who have turned thing around in the last year by attracting the RIGHT sort of businesses to the area (as decided by the local traders and residents groups…together).
Or how shopping malls do it (the reason why many high streets are struggling is due to the success of these and they all group businesses together and attract the right sorts of businesses. They actively pursue certain brands AND independents). I worked at the design agency that designed Bluewater in Kent and worked on Cribbs Causeway in Bristol.
Or perhaps Markets. Greenwich market is successful. They vet who goes into the market, group businesses together and attract and discourage certain types of stall. I tried to apply on behalf of a friend once. It's very well run and thought out.
Or schemes like BIDS, started in the US and now over here. Kingston First (I met with them yesterday) has done an incredible job raising footfall year on year for the last 7 years, bucking the national trend inspite of competition from Westfield (which as affected almost every area of London) have one empty shop in their high streets, despite many large brands failing like Habitat .
Or Supermarkets, the 'high street under one roof', (I've worked many both here and abroad including the big 4, M&S and Waitrose) possibly the reason why high streets are in such a mess in the first place. They do a lot of research on their customers, demographics, what works in a particular area, how their stores look, how their packaging looks and how their stores feel. How point of sale works and their Christmas campaigns. They vet what they sell, ask customers what their products are like, test what new products do well. I'd have thought that learning from them, what makes them successful would be a good idea for any high street.
I'd have thought that learning from all the above would be a good idea. High streets are rather different from anyones front gardens. Having also now met and worked with various traders groups and councils around London it's clear that the 'get any business into an unlet unit' practice is not only wrong, but also potentially damaging.
It doesn't have to be about telling traders what to do, it's about encouraging the right businesses that local traders and residents feel they both want and need.
The website you are talking about creating is potentially a positive thing for Sydenham Richard, but I'd encourage you to talk to other traders that are already here to ask their opinion of the sorts of businesses that they feel the high street needs to help THEIR trade. Or someone like Mookie Ziv.
If we took this approach then we probably wouldn't have our third funeral home in Sydenham or have wasted the opportunities that the road improvements are supposed to bring.
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
I genuinely don't know what's "damaging" about having an extra funeral parlour on the high street. If it's not need, it will go bust. If it is needed, it won't. The market will decide.
I only have one life. I can't wait forever for Sydenham to become Paradise. I'll make do with Beckenham-lite.
I only have one life. I can't wait forever for Sydenham to become Paradise. I'll make do with Beckenham-lite.
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
I never said the funeral parlour was damaging. I said it was a missed opportunity. Which you will have to agree, it is.
I said that getting any business in an empty shop was potentially damaging. Empty shops pay rates still and empty shops don't have to look tatty.
The bottom line is, is it better to try to listen to local businesses and local people and target the sorts of businesses that we want/need in the high street?
Is it better to learn from successes elsewhere?
I said that getting any business in an empty shop was potentially damaging. Empty shops pay rates still and empty shops don't have to look tatty.
The bottom line is, is it better to try to listen to local businesses and local people and target the sorts of businesses that we want/need in the high street?
Is it better to learn from successes elsewhere?
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
I agree with Lee it is a waste of an oppertunity It's in a prime position,will have the park next to it.Perfect for lots of different business's but a funeral parlour,for god's sake
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
It may be a "missed opportunity", but life ain't always fair.
And empty units ARE damaging, not only to the revenues of the freeholder (who has less money to maintain the fabric of the building) but also because it scares off potential investors. They may not notice the exact composition of each shop present on a high street - but they sure as hell notice if an area reeks of decline or neglent.
Hence my preference for "someone" rather than "no one" . On a practical basis, this carries over to my not objecting to a new developtment via the planning process, even if I'm not exactly over the moon about the specific nature of a new tenant moving in (for example, in relation to the money shop).
I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this on.
And empty units ARE damaging, not only to the revenues of the freeholder (who has less money to maintain the fabric of the building) but also because it scares off potential investors. They may not notice the exact composition of each shop present on a high street - but they sure as hell notice if an area reeks of decline or neglent.
Hence my preference for "someone" rather than "no one" . On a practical basis, this carries over to my not objecting to a new developtment via the planning process, even if I'm not exactly over the moon about the specific nature of a new tenant moving in (for example, in relation to the money shop).
I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this on.
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
Sydenham has a very low rate of empty shops. It's way the national average. The ones that have shut since I have been here have been poorly thought out or multiples of what is already here.
The make-up of shops and typs of shops surrounding their business will put off (or attract) investment.
Most landlords aren't great at maintaining the buildings. You will find many high streets the landlords are companies who don't care about the buildings.
If you are going to do this site and try to attract investment into the few empty shops here (which is positive), please talk to the traders first and ask them which businesses they feel we should be attracting first that will be of benefit to the area.
The make-up of shops and typs of shops surrounding their business will put off (or attract) investment.
Most landlords aren't great at maintaining the buildings. You will find many high streets the landlords are companies who don't care about the buildings.
If you are going to do this site and try to attract investment into the few empty shops here (which is positive), please talk to the traders first and ask them which businesses they feel we should be attracting first that will be of benefit to the area.
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
I think you are right Lee,
no point in having muliples of the same thing,
I realise it is better than having an empty shop, but if it doesn't attract people ( under their own steam!) then theres something not right.
no point in having muliples of the same thing,
I realise it is better than having an empty shop, but if it doesn't attract people ( under their own steam!) then theres something not right.
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
Here here !!!!!!!
Re: THE OLD CURTAIN SHOP IS GOING TO BE…
This shop is going to be on the corner of my road....I agree it is one of the last shops I would have wanted to see there,apart from another bookies or cash or cheque shop!
We heard a rumour that it was going to be a Tesco Express...? Are we sure about the Funeral Parlour?
Anyway just want to register my annoyance that no one seems to have a plan for the high street and these shops seem random additions.... a disappointed Queensthorpe Resident.
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We heard a rumour that it was going to be a Tesco Express...? Are we sure about the Funeral Parlour?
Anyway just want to register my annoyance that no one seems to have a plan for the high street and these shops seem random additions.... a disappointed Queensthorpe Resident.
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