New business on LL

[Mark]

Pret a Manger is (partially) owned by Mcdonalds. If Pret opened on LL that could be one foot in the door for Ronald...

[ben]

What about kennedy's Sausages - must have been going for at least 60 years with 5 or so shops left plus all relatively local

[JoeChuff]

i don't think it's even a political/anti-capitalist argument (what is more capitalist than small independent businesses, after all), it's just a question of style. Chains just have a rubbishy feel to them. Even if GBK donated all its profits to Amnesty International and gave its employees three years' paid maternity leave, it would still just be a bit rubbish.

There is definitely a sliding scale - i was mortified when Cafe Nero moved in, but I remained thankful that at least it wasn't a Pret or a Starbucks. Strada is just on the edge, I think. But the Sea Cow is fine, as would be a Bodean's. These opinions are based purely on my own level of snobbery.

(The worst are the chains that try to emulate an "independent" atmosphere - at least Favourite Chicken et al are honest. I hate being aggressively marketed to - I have more respect for a place that says, this is what we do, if you like it, great, if not, go somewhere else.)

And on a community level, variety is nice for its own sake - no need for us to become a mini-Clapham.

[Domitianus]

And let's face it, Kennedy's sausages might not be a cookie-cutter business but it does feed it all into a mincing machine!!!

BTW I know of a number of very ethically operated pin factories.