I rather like 'chains' coming to East Dulwich (Lounged)

[bald marauder]

There still seem to me to be a lot of dingy, uncared for and unhealthy looking shops on LL - deep fried chicken places and the like, which while I respect the needs of a diverse community, I cannot seriously believe that they are of true benefit to most people living in the area. Now, if I had the choice to close down one of those, and open up a...Monmouth Coffee, Rough Trade, even a Borders or Waterstones - I would be very happy to. I agree that Independent shops are great - so long as they keep their standards up. Chener books is a disgrace...

BM

[SimonM]

>>it's a classic accompaniement to steak - should have gone straight to Sainsburys<<

I could not find it in DKH Sainsbury's on my last couple of visits and assumed they had discontinued it? Where have they hidden it then?! :))

Occasionally there has been a French Farmers' market in the Dulwich Hamlet F.C. car park and one of the stalls there stocks the full Benedicta range including, of course, the delightful Bearnaise....

I really do not fancy making it myself...

[kford]

B?arnaise sauce:

2 egg yolks

110g/4oz butter

2 shallots, roughly chopped

1 tbsp tarragon, roughly chopped

Method

1. Melt the butter in a small pan.

2. Place the yolks in a mini food processor along with the shallots and the tarragon.

3. Give the mix a quick blitz. Slowly add the melted butter to the processor and blitz until the mix becomes thick and creamy.

[luddite]

right ........try review books in peckham , bellenden for ideas on how to create a great book shop .

abut arent you glad you dont live in peckham like me where there are at my last count 23 halal butchers , ten fish shops six pound shops , and ten or more very cheap clothes shops on the plus side there is primark

i agree with sean ...make your own bearnaise sauce maybe the popularity of william rose/meat eating has led to an east dulwich shortage of it ?

i like dijon with mine horseradish also yummy

[EDOldie]

nothing wrong with a mix of shops in a (very) vibrant shopping area. What I object to is the chains using their financial muscle to force other traders out of the area. LL was lovely today (and Northcross rd). But it could change so easily if we allow it to. Support the smaller shops, the extra expence must be worth it.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

You are right chaps, the irony did not escape me - I thought at the time it would have been quicker to make it. I guess it will be even nicer if Sean makes it for me!

[????]

A couple of points - big grocery retailers are extremely useful and popular, but that's missing the point of the argument , if chains start moving in the rents go up and the independents get squeezed out - LL with Pizza Express an O'Neils (I can't believe people like that corporate branded hellhole?!) etc would be just like Watford or maidstone or Swindon etc...yes I'd prefer a Waterstones to that awful bookshop but there has to be some sacrifice or LL becomes like Swindon or Bromley......I despair of people's need for 'the same'.....seriously, go and live in Milton Keynes.

PS Upper Street was once like LL, look at it now plastic high street full of burbites

[Nero]

Agree with above poster about the slot machine place and the fried-chicken places. Also agree with other poster who says too many chains make for a soulless place. I think the Lane could stand one more large chain shop and that would be it. Any more and I think it gets too out of hand. Nero

[kford]

???? is on the money. The rents argument is the stongest against this trend. The big boys have such buying power and arrogance - look at Nero; they've swaggered into town without even bothering to sort out their planning permission. And Foxtons' two fingered gesture of a shop front speaks volumes for their attempts to integrate into the community.

Support the shops and eateries that are already here - the good ones will survive and thrive, the dross will be replaced by new indies, if the rent is still cheap enough.

[Keef]

kford Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> ???? is on the money.

:))

[louisiana]

I think right now the balance is right.

There are plenty of chains already on LL. Some have closed (Halifax, the off license whose name I can't recall that went into receivership).

Forest Hill has plenty of the chains LL itself doesn't (WH Smith, Boots, Sainsbury's, McDonald's etc.), but by comparison it's soulless for shopping. If I go into any of those FH chains (and I rarely do - about once a year, on my way to the station), their lack of care, lack of interest, is so apparent, compared with the local shop-keepers we have on LL.

[SimonM]

To be quite fair to Forest Hill it does not have a McDonalds and hasn't for some time: nor does it have a Gourmet Burger Kitchen. :)) It has the major disadvantage of the South Circular ploughing through part of its main shopping drag - but Dartmouth Road is not entirely devoid of character I think.

[louisiana]

SimonM Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> To be quite fair to Forest Hill it does not have a

> McDonalds and hasn't for some time:

Ha, just shows how much I notice....

nor does it

> have a Gourmet Burger Kitchen. :)) It has the

> major disadvantage of the South Circular ploughing

> through part of its main shopping drag

True, but the traffic round to ED Grove from LL on a Saturday is not much less.

- but

> Dartmouth Road is not entirely devoid of character

> I think.

You're right. I used to live along there myself (Courtside), until '92. There are a few good shops up there, but I was mainly referring to the main drag around London Rd.

[Caron]

I loved your post Luddite

> abut arent you glad you dont live in peckham like me where there

> are at my last count 23 halal butchers , ten fish shops six pound

> shops , and ten or more very cheap clothes shops

Ah, but at least they're independent!

I do take everyone's point about clone high-streets and would hate LL to become one, but would really like there to be more useful facilities. I ended up in the chain Sainsbury's to get the preserved lemons I was after a few weeks back, after the independent SMB Foods and the lovely Turkish place on Forest Hill Road failed to deliver. Both have a place and dismissing a shop just because it's a chain seems a bit of a broad sweep.

While I'm on my soap box, aren't Winkworth, Acorn, Bushells, Ludlow Thompson and Haarts chains? Isn't Budgen's a chain? I'm glad of it when I want something last minute at 10:00 at night when the independents are tucked up in bed.

Steps off soapbox.

[louisiana]

Caron Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I loved your post Luddite

>

> > abut arent you glad you dont live in peckham

> like me where there

> > are at my last count 23 halal butchers , ten

> fish shops six pound

> > shops , and ten or more very cheap clothes shops

>

>

> Ah, but at least they're independent!

>

> I do take everyone's point about clone

> high-streets and would hate LL to become one, but

> would really like there to be more useful

> facilities. I ended up in the chain Sainsbury's

> to get the preserved lemons I was after a few

> weeks back, after the independent SMB Foods and

> the lovely Turkish place on Forest Hill Road

> failed to deliver. Both have a place and

> dismissing a shop just because it's a chain seems

> a bit of a broad sweep.

Just as when SMBS can deliver fresh oyster mushrooms and Rock's ginger cordial when the chains cannot...

>

> While I'm on my soap box, aren't Winkworth, Acorn,

> Bushells, Ludlow Thompson and Haarts chains?

> Isn't Budgen's a chain? I'm glad of it when I

> want something last minute at 10:00 at night when

> the independents are tucked up in bed.

>

> Steps off soapbox.

They are indeed. How often do you need to go into an estate agent? (consults diary: 1986 in ED, 1987 in Forest Hill, 1997 in another country, 2003 in another country)

My local independents that deliver what I want, every day of the year, at all hours, are the ones that matter: Red Apple (newsagent, open at crack of dawn or before, even on a Sunday) and Val's (grocer's), which is open for more hours than is human.

[kford]

Well spotted, keef :))

[SeanMacGabhann]

.

[Emily]

I wish Dulwich books or someone would open a nice bookshop on Lordship Lane. I can't believe Chener Books - it's such a state.

[Kerip]

Lordship lane book shop is great inside. Shame about their front. Smarten up!

[Shu.Kurimu.Sensei]

Don't judge a bookshop by its cover for christs sake >:D

[SimonM]

Chener Books is off-beat and different and practically a LL institution. I'd hate for it to be replaced by a Waterstones-type literary retail experience, with its piles of 3 for 2 Dan Browns and Katie Price "novels". Chener recently featured a series of window displays of old children's annuals from different years which in my view made it one of the most interesting shop windows in ED >:D

[citizenED]

Totally agree. In a few years time that sign will become a classic. We'll all miss it when it goes.

Couple of years back I went in and told the guy I had good news and bad. The good news was that I'd made a New Year's Resolution to buy a book from him every fortnight. The bad news? Told him how sh!t I was at keeping New Year's Resolutions.

[Jeremy]

I liked the retro annuals display too. But seriously... how much would it cost to sand down and repaint the woodwork? Why don't the owners understand that it's important to have an appealing shop front?

[Brendan]

Why is it appealing?

[david_carnell]

Not wishing to turn this thread into one on Chener Books (which I think has been done before) but I think they are wonderful. The shabby exterior (and interior if we're being honest) belies helpful and knowledgable staff and an excellent stock selection.

It is quality not quantity. Their appearance is not really the issue. Everyone was proclaiming how they loved the frontage of the tyre shop nr Moxons cbecasue it was old 'n' stuff - this is the same. If they were a sign shop it might be worth having a gripe over but really, when buying books does it really matter.

On chains, as a whole, the homogeneity of many high streets is very depressing. People pick on some indy shops due to their perceived grubby or shabby-ness but it's horses for courses. Whilst not all chains are evil corporate slave drivers not all local shops will be nik nak boutiques with fancy window displays. AJ Farmers looks pretty shabby but have you ever tried to find their stock elsewhere?