Co-Op down

[stone-penge]

The new Co-Op: The old Co-Op rotated 90 degrees!
Awesome waste of effort.
its Sydenham's version of Xanadu.

[simon]

I agree with Mr Sheen's last post.

[leenewham]

I though it was a lot lot better, as did many people in the store who were commenting on it. It feels a lot nicer inside.

[simon]

I'm enjoying my free cake, very nice. It looks a lot better but could do with better signage to help find things. Seems to have pretty much the same stock as before. Hopefully, self scan will reduce queues.

[leenewham]

I got free cake too!

Signage is poor, but it's not too large a store and I never looked at the signage before, I navigated it by looking at the shelves. Not something I'd do in the huge abyss that is Sainsbury's. I see Tesco are open, but I refuse to shop there.

[Tim Lund]

It's a better layout, but I had to key in all 18! numbers of my membership card at the self scanner, which can't be sensible.

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[gillyjp]

Popped into the Co-op Friday early evening. Vast improvement on the layout and it looks modern and clean. Staff always quite pleasant. A good revamp of image and stock. We like it and will use it rather than Tesco. I hope they do well and fight off the competition from Tesco.

[Maria]

We too think it looks fantastic and it has given us a renewed determination to shop mainly there - as well as Billings and PFC, of course...

What a difference lighter paint colour, sharper layouts, and clearer position of check out tills can make visually to a space! I congratulated a member of staff there and she said they were doing better than ever, regaining old faithful customers plus adding new ones who now realise how good it's become. I've only seen so much organic, fairtrade and local products in Waitrose!

What a shame that almost the first thing I see when I leave home is that vulgar red and blue striped tesco shop front.... I'm hoping they won't last long....Who in heaven's name will be able to justify going there now?

[bradfordroadgirl]

Contrary to most opinions I'm happy to use the new Tesco and it's a bonus that they carry a reasonable selection of gluten free products like ciabbata rolls that I would have to go to Waitrose Beckenham for. Sydenham road has never been a shoppers paradise but it is getting better with more choice without going miles. I use most shops and none exclusively.

Horses for courses

[alywin]

Now if The Windmiil was turned into a pub such as EDT then it would welcome a better clientele also make our area better & more affluent. That is why I would rather a Sainsburys or Waitrose there then the current pub.

I really find this 'ship the riff raff out' attitude unbearable. This isn't East Dulwich. Live with it.

The area is getting quite affluent enough as it is already, thank you. We've just had yet another smug communication from a local estate agents through our door, congratulating themselves on having sold a property for a record price higher than the asking price. So many prices being talked up around here. If the price of a flat can go up by over 1/3 in 3 years with no major work done to it, something's wrong, in my book. All I can think is that Sydenham is yet another area that the average buyer is now being priced out of.

[GraceBrooks]

Darling I live in Sydenham and I am happy my house has gone up in value the last few years. Where is the shame in that?

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[marymck]

Darling I live in Sydenham and I am happy my house has gone up in value the last few years. Where is the shame in that?

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Lovey, sweetie pie, whatever rocks your boat. Whatever you buy next will also have gone up in price, so you are certainly very lucky you got a step on the escalator. But honey bun, remember that price increase happened with the current low class population you so disapprove of. So really no need to move us out, is there?

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[Tim Lund]

Mary - I suspect GraceBrooks of trying to get a rise out of the likes of you and me, so let's have it out in the pub here ...

[leenewham]

In reality most people think like Grace.

So do banks. So do estate agents. So do developers.

Buying a house is seen as an investment.

House prices went up in bow when they built thousands of new flats. Same in Stratford. Same in Greenwich. Same in Barking. Same in Bell Green and Lower Sydenham. Cowdrey Mews a new development in Sydenham (I had no idea Sydenham had moved to Bellingham/Catford se6!), is selling 1 bed flats for 200k+! That's not affordable.

Unless housing is built and sold cheaply and buy to let is banned, house prices will continue to rise in London irrespective of how many new homes are built. Homes needs to be built for people to live in, but lets no kid ourselves that it's the only way of bring in down prices because it isn't.

If you want house prices in Sydenham to go down, make it a dump. Stop the SEE3 project, throw litter around the high street, don't plant flowers anywhere, burn down the playgrounds and trash the parks. If you want Sydenham to improve, to be a better and nicer place to live, then indirectly you are as guilty as anyone for house prices going up.

On another note, I'm loving the new Co-op. I hope other shops follow it's lead and smarted themselves up.

[Eagle]

Lee
All houses or flats are affordable for some.

Re Cowdrey Mews I got a flyer through the door. Looks nice but cannot place where it would be.

[marymck]

But lee, it's the people grace doesn't't approve of. She's bought property in a working class area and she wants a local pub to become a supermarket because she doesn't like the clientele and wants a more affluent crowd to move in. Not very classy that IMO.

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[Tim Lund]

Mary - do you know where Grace lives, or do you think all of Sydenham is a working class area? I don't think you can criticise her for that; areas do change, and have to in response to perfectly legitimate social changes. Let's not all live in ghettos.

OK, she describes the Windmill clientele as an awful crowd, which comes across as a bit snooty. Maybe it would be better to see them as those in "genuine and severe need who live in Sydenham", who others on this Forum would not "wish to attract more" of.

[marymck]

Mary - do you know where Grace lives, or do you think all of Sydenham is a working class area? I don't think you can criticise her for that; areas do change, and have to in response to perfectly legitimate social changes. Let's not all live in ghettos.

OK, she describes the Windmill clientele as an awful crowd, which comes across as a bit snooty. Maybe it would be better to see them as those in "genuine and severe need who live in Sydenham", who others on this Forum would not "wish to attract more" of.

I think sydenham has a good mix of people from all backgrounds. I don't want to live in a ghetto of one type of person. I want to live in a welcoming and inclusive community and I'm lucky that I do. As it happens, the area around the windmill, where I live and where grace apparently lives also, is a largely working class area. Not exclusively. It's good mix and a good sense of community. Grace says she prefers to socialize with the clientele at the East Dulwich Tavern. She says she wishes for a "more affluent" crowd. So I can't think she would be happy with more affordable housing in this part of sydenham.

I've said on this forum before that sydenham is big enough, both in scale and in heart, to cater for all sectors of the community. We have a homeless hostel (which at 120+ residents I think is big enough for the area it's in), we have private and housing association rental property and we have a good mix of so called "owner" occupied property. I believe we need much more council property and that these taxpayer funded properties should not be sold off. To make people who already live here, and who in many cases have had local family connections going back generation, feel unwelcome and unwanted is IMO an antisocial attitude.

Oh and I think we need more small scale developments of housing for the elderly - both rental and to buy.. The one at the top of Kirkdale could be a model for some, the prefabs in bellingham another. And I very much hope we don't lose st clement's heights.

Edit to say, I should have posted this on Tim's new housing thread. Sorry.

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