Hello All
I had been planning to make an update but had been waiting until we secured the shops for the upcoming Sydenham project - this should take place in coming weeks.
We are planning four pop up shops in Sydenham to open in May/June, one of which will be in the Jill Community hub (which as I understand it will continue in a more mobile capacity). The Jack and Jill Community Hubs are a separate initiative to The Shop Revolution by the way. Applications for these shops will be opening in the coming weeks with details for how folks might to that to follow soon.
As part of the project we are looking to address the lack of a night-time economy, something that has been communicated through community engagement activities in Jill and fed back anecdotally. We will be planning a series of events throughout June which will feed nicely into the Sydenham Arts Festival in July. I don't want to give too much away at this early stage but I will provide an update soon.
We are also hoping to build on the existing arts identity in the area and look at ways to bring that to the high street. We will announce details soon as to how you can get involved in the SEE3 Arts Committee. Clearly there will be strong links with the Sydenham Arts Festival and the Visual Arts Trail, and you will see some pop up collaborations between SAF and SEE3 in July.
Here is an update on the pop up shops to date:
- Station Approach, Sydenham - Taken over by a long-term tenant.
- 161 Kirkdale - Pen & Gravy VS Modernish have recently ceased trading and new tenants Syd's Vintage will be moving in from next week, selling high end vintage clothing along with vintage furniture. Clair and Norman of Syd's Vintage were briefly installed in the old Floorzone shop opposite LA Fitness so you might well know them.
- 49 London Road, Sydenham - This was home to The Butchery at Christmas and was taken over by them permanently in February.
- 10A Dartmouth Road - SEE Boutique, our most recent pop up shop opening as part of Forest Hill Fashion Week in February and home to Ronke Fashola of Love Ur Look selling her own vintage inspired designs made from ethically sourced materials.
We are also planning 2 further shops in Kirkdale and Forest Hill - projects of which are being scoped.
I would like to say one thing about our approach and that is that we take a holistic view when installing pop up shops. It isn't just about filling shops which would otherwise remain empty, and providing opportunities for fledgling businesses. We also assess how to meet the needs of the community, what will be complementary to existing businesses and what might have a lasting impact - a legacy if you will.
For our recent project in Forest Hill we had the problem that there were very few empty shops that were available and suitable but we wanted to make a maximum impact. It was clear that Forest Hill had begun to establish a fashion identity with established boutique Bunka and fashion collections in Stag & Bow and Doopo Doopo, and then recent newcomers Best of Both Boutique and Marie's Boutique. With London Fashion Week taking place in February we thought it would be an ideal time to hold our own homage to local design and fashion talent by staging Forest Hill Fashion Week. The result was a five day festival of fashion with over 20 events taking place throughout the high street, with 11 high street businesses participating in the events and over 30 businesses who came to the high street to participate.
We were overwhelmed by the success of the event and the enthusiasm and support it excited. Significantly participating businesses reported an increase in footfall and sales for the duration of the event and would all be keen to be involved in a future FHFW. We had a record number of volunteers, with involvement from Sydenham Girls School (who helped create the fabulous catwalk show at the close of the week), Goldsmiths students (who had a 2 day pop up shop called the Design Marketplace) and young designers and makers The Foragers who specially created outfits from used materials for the catwalk show.
We are very pleased that it looks likely that Forest Hill Fashion Week will become a regular event. Take a look at
www.foresthillfashion.com which has been created following the success of FHFW.
Our aim is to make a similar lasting impact in Sydenham and we have been carrying out a lot of work to ensure this is the case. So although it might seem as though we have gone a bit quiet we have been doing a lot behind the scenes. More to follow soon.
Louise