Jill hub / Cherry & Ice

[sarahsyd]

Does anyone know what's happening in the old Jill hub? New signage - Cherry & Ice - and signs of a refurb. Looks promising!

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[dickp]

The shutters were half up when I walked past just now. The interior looks nice, aspirational. Clean. Modern.

I might be tempted to give it a whirl when it opens.

[chrism]

I hear it's going to be an ice cream parlour but I would have thought they'd also serve coffee to keep them going the rest of the year.

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[Pat Trembath]

Yummy tasters of strawberry and guava sorbets were being offered in the high street this afternoon.

A lot of work has gone into turning this shop into a welcome addition to the high street - an ice cream parlour which will also serve milkshakes and smoothies, waffles and, in due course, coffee and tea. An art gallery is also being planned.

Opening tomorrow at lunchtime and staying open until 10pm we are told. Good luck to Deborah and William - stand back as the locals beat their way to your door!

[Suzee]

Just been into Cherry & Ice.... what a brilliant addition to the high street! Kids will love it. Amazing selection of ice creams and waffle-toppings. And it's a permanent shop, not just pop-up!

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[NSid]

Amazing addition to the High Street! And glad to hear that it is permanent. This could be the start of 'destination shopping' for Sydenham- my friends from further afield said they'd try it after seeing my facebook picture of our family trip there.
Things are on the up!

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[Chris Best]

Please make time to call into Cherry & Ice when we have our next SEE3 Sydenham Food Market on Sunday 30th June - 10am to 4pm. This is part of our work to bring a more diverse offer to Sydenham high street and we have received fantastic support from the landlord of 27 in running Jill for 6 months. The landlord decided to go with an ice cream parlour rather than other proposals that I know would not have offered this opportunity to bring more footfall to the high street.

Keep an eye on our web site for more news - http://www.SEE3.co.uk - and contact us if you would like to join one of our Action Groups or sign up to our eNews.

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[Suzee]

Anyone know what their opening hours are?

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[Pat Trembath]

Opening hours start at noon, with soup and sandwiches made to order now added to the offer. Wont be long before their new coffee machine is up and running.

Closing times have yet to be finalised as local residents are starting to realise it is an evening destination and yesterday it was busy and open until 10.30pm. Debra and William will be playing it by ear for a while, especially during the lighter evenings.

[love-sydenham]

What a great news!!!!!
Will definitely make time to go there!!!

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[southernmoose]

Very excited to discover that we've got a new ice-cream/waffle/late night opening café on the high street! Some menus on the tables/in the window and some brighter lighting (so that you can see inside when you're passing) would help to make it even more appealing! Looking forward to visiting...

[Loobaj]

We have visited Cherry & Ice a couple of times, "we" being me and the kids. They are really friendly and welcoming in there, and it is great to have a new place to hange out it. However, I know a few people who have visited and the feedback is the same, it is lacking a little in atmosphere in that it does not have the "feel" and appearence of an ice cream palour/cafe. It is rather plain and uninspiring inside, it needs a bit of jazzing up to make it a place people want to go to and hang out in. I am going to take the kids as a weekly treat, as I am really keen to support new ventures like this in the area, but please do something with the interior!

[Whiftoff]

I agree, it’s a really good addition but definitely needs something to jazz it up a bit. Maybe some background music and something on the walls. It also need to sell nice coffee.

[hairybuddha]

^^ +1 to both of those posts

I visited on the first weekend. It's a really welcome addition but I hope they take on board some of this feedback. The atmosphere could definitely be improved and I think the layout and ordering system don't really work coherently.

Great that they are going to do coffee but I hope they get some training and do it properly. The only thing worse than no coffee is bad coffee.

And they should open earlier, do some pastries and catch the morning rush on the way to the station.

[leenewham]

I started writing this the other day and saved it as a draft, in ight of the last few comment's I thought I'd post it.

We went at the weekend.

It's great that there is finally a shop for families and kids in the high street. It's the only one so far and it offers something genuinely different.

Which is probably why it was fairly busy.

However it could be a lot better. So here is some constructive criticism.

1. The layout inside isn't great. It would have been better if the counter went down one side making a wider area down the side. You have to queue, which means you cant see the ice cream until you get to the counter, then go to the side counter to pay, then go around the front to get your ice cream (which also gives the impression of it being busier than it is). I wonder if SEE3 asked any local architects to give some advice as they have done with the pop up shops (where they did a great job). Ice cream means kids and families, which means pushchairs. The counter at the back means it's a VERY narrow passage to get buggies down the back where there is LOADS of room and anyone waiting to order or pay has to move out of the way.

2. The window display should work a lot harder for them. A large hen with a cherry in it's mouth is rather an odd thing to have. It's not very emotive. Ice cream is rather nostalgic and fun. They could be amazing.

3. It gets REALLY hot inside. A fan or two would be a great addition.

4. The inside feels very bargain basement. It's not a particularly nice place to be. Peach coloured walls, poorly finished, not artwork, just blank walls and 1970's vinyls seating (which could be really funky with a little work). It could be amazing with some imagination.

5. It wasn't particularly friendly when we went, the staff seems a bit flustered. I'm sure it's just a one off, but it may be worth keeping an eye on this.

This is the sort of business that the high street needs. It's different. But businesses are not charities, they have to win your custom.

So here are a few initial (an cheap) ideas to make a difference:

1. There is loads of room out of the back, make it into a childrens area to give parents a bit of piece a la the montage in Forest Hill. It's so large you could even put a slide in there! Fake grass on the floor (20 quid a m2) would make it soft and fun. A few buckets of seconds hand toys or books woudl make it a warm inviting place. Paint one wall with blackboard paint and hey presto.

2. Move the counters down the side, paint another blackboard and have a large menu with nice comments or recommendations or funny quotes.

3. Get some of the artists/designers from the arts festival to decorate the inside and the windows, but make it RELEVANT to the business. Give them free ice cream for doing it and some publicity and bags of thanks (it goes a long way).

4. Get some fans in there to move the air around.

There is so much that this business could do or be and it doesn't have to cost the earth. Plus they are getting free advice on this forum! So what would you add?

[hairybuddha]

Completely agree with all of the above, especially on the layout and ordering system - That's the kind of advice that can cost a small fortune. I hope they read it.

I would add that I wasn't particularly inspired by the waffle recipe they are using. Maybe make the waffles a bit smaller, less dry and be a bit more generous with the ice cream and toppings.

[dickp]

I've also noticed the staff were flustered on both times I've been. A few people walked out, because the staff were preoccupied making waffles. There needs to be a better way of working - one person making waffles or smoothies, and another taking orders (because lots of orders can be processed quickly).

Prices for the ice creams and cakes need to be displayed on a chalk board, displayed prominently. I didn't even notice that they sold ice cream cones until someone walked in and asked for one - I though the ice cream were for the waffles. And, it turned out, the cakes were reasonably priced. I would have bought one if I'd known that.

I'm not so bothered about the layout or fit-out. Yes, it's a bit rough but, realistically, there may not be money available to change the layout in the short-term. I think they need to focus on the small stuff in the short-term - service and product-selling - to maximise revenue.

[sarahsyd]

I agree. We went on the weekend and planned to sit in, but decided to buy cones to take away instead, as the interior wasn't so appealing. We were chatting about it, and thought a cheap fix would be to add some bright tablecloths and some jam jars with flowers, and I'm sure there are artists who might want to exhibit for sale.

The ice cream is really delicious!

And I like the signage and the artwork on the window.

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[MiniFox]

Been in today with miniMiniFox...
We stayed and ate in. Trying to manhandle a 3.5 year old up the high street in the heat with a melting ice-cream was not appealing.

I agree with the ideas as to how to make it easier to figure out what they have and what flavours they have - but when we got there it was quite quiet so this didnt impact us too much.

Yes, the interior could be funked-up, and the exterior doesn't make it obvious at all what they do. But hot-damn the ice-cream was relish. If you want to know what a drunk toddler would be like, take them in there and give them 2 scoops... My kid's now doing her best Dylan Moran impression, veering around the flat, bashing into stuff and talking gobblydegook.
I think that's a successful ice parlour, but to Lee's point, this could be a serious high street attraction.

[SepticSkeptic]

Closed yesterday?

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