Colette closing on Northcote Road Post Reply

[Starr]

It was nice to have Northcote Rd as a place for interesting, independent and special shops and delis.
The antiques shop is nice and it's sad the music shop closed.
We do like the Pottery cafe a lot and seems busy all the time.
I personally don't want high street brands there, even if they are useful because the West end is so accessible from here.
I guess it is changing as a food and drink al fresco hangout spot.
I didn't even make it to colettes or the health food shop before they left.

[gkc]

Latest victim is Jigsaw - closing on Friday despite being a very successful (albeit tiny) branch. Apparently they’re being replaced by yet another upmarket glasses shop - Jimmy Fairly How many of them will still be open in a year?

[BenandJerry]

Sad to see Jigsaw go. Although small they did carry a lot of stock. Is the one on Bellevue Road staying does anyone know? 

Thanks.

[NoodleFan]

Personally quite pleased Jigsaw is going - one of my least favourite high st shops.
But another optician

[JamTart]

BRING BACK THE MUSIC SHOP!

The man who ran it knew his stuff and had a personality, and the shop provided a fantastic service. Unfortunately, according to him, mothers would go in to consult him/his staff, then order from Amazon - sometimes while they were still in his shop!

Good luck calling Amazon to rent an instrument or to get some advice and insight on sheet music, reeds and strings and rosin.

Same thing happened with the bookshops on Northcote Road and Bellevue Road. Such a shame.

[coffeeandtea]

Oh for gods sake not ANOTHER optician!
I wish there was some kind of local committee that could kind of put a limit on how many of the same business can open within a short stretch?! There’s that other new opticians opposite next to sweaty Betty too and another opening at the old Windfall Natural spot 🤯🤯🤯

[JamTart]

Yes, to coffeeandtea's idea of a local committee to shape it. Great idea. With a max number of certain shops, e.g. out of 50 shops a max of 5 estate agents, 3 opticians, 10 clothes shops, 10 cafes, 10 bars/restaurants, the rest other. And/or a quota of independent shops who get to pay substantially lower business rates. And encouragement for pop-ups.

[Btc_mum]

This is an absolutely mad idea!

For starters, there are several different landlords who own the commercial property on the streets
They aren’t going to turn away decent businesses because a local nimby has decided that there are enough coffee shops nearby, or because their rival landlord has already secured an optician tenant at the other end of the road

And rates are decided at a national and council level. There is no legal mechanism for a committee to undermine that for one stretch of a road because they want to keep it looking chichi

These treads always show how out of touch most people are to the reality of commercial property and retail - for example, several posts calling for a branch of Cook, even though there is one less than a mile away
Similarly, there are lots of posts on a similar topic saying we need a local cinema, despite there being several within a very small radius of Northcote road

The high rents, high footfall and local population with a relatively loyal disposition towards supporting high street businesses will serve as the market forces which will dictate which shops thrive and fail locally.

A committee trying to artificially manage it will have no long term positive impact, if one were ever allowed to exist. Which mercifully, it can’t.

[monaco]

Good idea about a local committee. Businesses that plan to open could also use this for market research. I think they plan shops on Northcote road by looking at the average sold price of houses but it doesn't guarantee that people will actually spend money in local shops. 
That committee could also give some views on the refurbishment of shops. I find the painting of the whole building for Ole & Sten with the brand name in big bold letters way too overbearing and not in keep with the style of the street for instance. I wished it had been toned down. 

[JamTart]

This is an absolutely mad idea!

For starters, there are several different landlords who own the commercial property on the streets
They aren’t going to turn away decent businesses because a local nimby has decided that there are enough coffee shops nearby, or because their rival landlord has already secured an optician tenant at the other end of the road

And rates are decided at a national and council level. There is no legal mechanism for a committee to undermine that for one stretch of a road because they want to keep it looking chichi

These treads always show how out of touch most people are to the reality of commercial property and retail - for example, several posts calling for a branch of Cook, even though there is one less than a mile away
Similarly, there are lots of posts on a similar topic saying we need a local cinema, despite there being several within a very small radius of Northcote road

The high rents, high footfall and local population with a relatively loyal disposition towards supporting high street businesses will serve as the market forces which will dictate which shops thrive and fail locally.

A committee trying to artificially manage it will have no long term positive impact, if one were ever allowed to exist. Which mercifully, it can’t.

You seem very cross, cross enough to use a guest name and spray names around. Have a coffee.

I live a mile from Northcote Road, so not a nimby, but giving my view of what woiuld attract me to shop there. Speaking of a mile: if I have understood the Cook concept correctly, a large part of the appeal is that customers don't have to walk a mile (and back) to pick it up. A small local cinema would be brilliant. There's a great little one next to Sainsbury's in Balham.

'This is an absolutely mad idea! For starters, there are several different landlords who own the commercial property on the streets. They aren’t going to turn away decent businesses because a local nimby has decided that there are enough blah blah no legal mechanism out of touch with reality footfall radius not possible blah blah.' 

Similar scepticism was levelled at the brilliant Northcote Road weekend closures for street dining. Market forces are not something that happen to us like the weather; they can be proactively shaped.

Local people having more say in what they want on their high street? Mad, but great. It's not even mad. It's not even new: selection systems whereby a local body shapes their high street in conjunction with the local council have been used successfully outside London, and unofficially in villages since the beginning of time.
 

[chorister]

A local committee already exists - it's known as the democratically elected local council.

[Btc_mum]

Your reply perfectly demonstrates why such a committee would be a terrible idea!

It comes from a place of ‘what do I as and individual (who is too lazy to walk to Balham or Abbeville road) want for me personally’ and not ‘what makes good business sense’

And I’m afraid that’s not how retail businesses plan their store locations.
If a committee is made up of people who don’t understand how retail works (and all the people replying here to support a committee clearly don’t!) then the committee would not be able to create a sustainable street. Just a wish list of things they do and don’t want to see

But it’s all a totally moot point. There is no legal way to mandate or veto the sorts of businesses which landlords rent to
If every premises with restaurant planning (a3) wants to be a pizza joint, there is nothing you nor the council can do to stop it. Obviously you can vote with your feet and not support them, which might mean they close down and become something else. But you don’t mandate what must replace it

And if business owners decide there are enough long sighted local residents to support 15 opticians on the road, only market forces can decide if that’s true or not
I am quite glad we don’t live in a dictatorship where a nimby calls the shots!

[JamTart]

So very cross! Make that a double espresso.

[coffeeandtea]

Gosh!

I actually own and run a business locally - so no, not a ‘nimby’. And have managed and owned businesses in commercial properties for quite some time. There’s no need to throw around insults based on a ‘wish’ for a local committee. There’s no reason why locals shouldn’t have input into what opens in their area. It makes for a happy, community minded area. What is wrong with that?

Many of the buildings are owned by large commercial companies and the deals made for commercial leases are done with businesses such as Jimmy Fairly before other potential more independent businesses even get a look in. We do not need 3 opticians in a 50m stretch of the road.

I agree that some suggestions are a bit far fetched for what should open here, but there’s some perfectly valid ones and taking what the community wants into account is what will make for a great high street!

Now time for that coffee…..

[blowthebudget1]

A wish list for Northcote Road !  These are businesses operating in the real world.  If they can't make a profit they won't survive.