Chango - New local gem alert!

[rMattos]

New local gem alert!
Just when we thought East Dulwich couldn’t get any better — a new café “Chango” has landed on the high street, and it’s all about empanadas! 🥟

This cosy spot is serving up golden, hand-crimped parcels packed with flavour — from classic beef and chimichurri to mouthwatering veggie options. Freshly baked, ridiculously moreish, and perfect with their strong coffee or a glass of Malbec 🍷☕.

[Peckhampam]

Why does this sound like an advertising blurb?

[Sue]

Why on earth would this shop choose to open almost opposite the only other shop in East Dulwich which is also "all about empanadas"? 

[rMattos]

Haha fair! Not an ad @Peckhampam  — just genuinely excited to have something new (and tasty) pop up in the neighbourhood. Thought I’d share in case others hadn’t spotted it yet. Always good to support local!

I agree with you @Sue, yeah it’s a bold move! Maybe they’re betting on empanadas becoming the next sourdough? In any case, nice to have options — curious to see how both do.

[alice]

Sly not bold

[Sue]

14 hours ago, rMattos said:

Haha fair! Not an ad @PeckhampamAlways good to support local!

But it's a chain, isn't it? I stand to be corrected.

The other shop is the local one, and I believe family run.

14 hours ago, rMattos said:

I agree with you @Sue, yeah it’s a bold move! Maybe they’re betting on empanadas becoming the next sourdough? In any case, nice to have options — curious to see how both do.

A "bold" move?

I'd call it a very cheeky move.

There is no way they could not have been aware of the other shop a few paces away across the road.

I have never had an empanada in my life, and didn't particularly feel a need to try one, but I will now be going out of my way to buy some from the original shop.

Some years back, a shop selling the same kind of things as Health Matters opened more or less opposite it. That was also very cheeky.

It didn't last long. People continued to support Health Matters (as they have done with the recent opening of Holland & Barrett). The new shop closed down.

[Insuflo]

48 minutes ago, Sue said:

I have never had an empanada in my life, and didn't particularly feel a need to try one, but I will now be going out of my way to buy some from the original shop.

Me neither. They’re essentially pasties, am I right?

[the_hermit]

Local (especially independent) businesses should do like Wheelers Oyster Bar in Whitstable and offer a discount to anyone who can show them a receipt from Chacarero dated the same day.

[Sue]

1 hour ago, Insuflo said:

Me neither. They’re essentially pasties, am I right?

Looks like it!

Though according to the OP, they are "golden, hand-crimped parcels  packed with flavour" 😀

50 minutes ago, the_hermit said:

Local (especially independent) businesses should do like Wheelers Oyster Bar in Whitstable and offer a discount to anyone who can show them a receipt from Chacarero dated the same day.

I don't understand. Admittedly my brain is functioning at a very low level at the moment.

Does that mean various local shops get together and agree to offer a discount to anyone who shows them a receipt from one of the other ones dated the same day?

I can't see what's in it for either of them, unless people shop somewhere they wouldn't otherwise have done just to get the discount.

Is it for vaguely  linked things, say cheese from a cheese shop, wine from another shop? Showing my age there. 

And then suppose it's always the same shop which people go to second to get the discount? What's in it for the first shop? People go there in order to get the discount in the second shop?

Edited July 27 by Sue

[the_hermit]

It's local independent shops supporting one another.

[Sue]

2 minutes ago, the_hermit said:

It's local independent shops supporting one another.

I understand that, but I can't really grasp how it works in practice, but never mind 😵‍💫

[Insuflo]

1 hour ago, Sue said:

Looks like it!

Though according to the OP, they are "golden, hand-crimped parcels  packed with flavour" 😀

More of a Steak Bake kinda thing, then.

[alice]

If you’ve got four quid spare, go and try one. Myself, I like the mozzarella and spinach, but there’s no accounting.

[Insuflo]

Four quid! That’ll get me half a pint of lager in the EDT.

[Sue]

11 minutes ago, Insuflo said:

Four quid! That’ll get me half a pint of lager in the EDT.

Pints are better value 🤣

[teddyboy23]

£4 pound in poundland buys me pack of ham slices£1 pack of cheese slices £1 pack of cakes£1-50 should last a week sorted.plus 50p for one sip of larger.

Edited July 27 by teddyboy23

[alice]

You’re making your Work sandwiches right now then are you?

[teddyboy23]

1 minute ago, alice said:

You’re making your Work sandwiches right now then are you?

Yes 

[HeadNun]

Lordship Lane has two dry cleaners, three pizza places and an Italian selling pizza, two burger places, three bakeries, two hardware (ish, I'm thinking AJ Farmer here), God knows how many coffee and charity shops, two Italians, three nail salons, five wine shops...

Where was the abject outrage when Dynamic Vines opened up literally next door to Cave de Bruno? But I don't see his customers decamped next door - no, those stalwarts are still out in force every night. 

In Roman times all businesses were clustered by product. It's what kept prices down. Same in any market you go to abroad, they're all selling the same things next to each other. 

Why is everyone being so hard on this new place? It's called healthy competition - you can't curtail the expansion of your business on the basis you that might hurt someone else's. 

[alice]

You've got a point.  Thinking Leyland and Screwfix too but this felt different.

[HeadNun]

19 minutes ago, alice said:

You've got a point.  Thinking Leyland and Screwfix too but this felt different.

Ha! After I posted this, I thought of lots more examples. Screwfix and the hardware store? Mrs Robinson and Jumping Bean? Chemists, plant shops, hairdressers...  the list goes on... it's good to have healthy competition 

Ooooh! Two cheese shops

[Sue]

38 minutes ago, HeadNun said:

Ha! After I posted this, I thought of lots more examples. Screwfix and the hardware store? Mrs Robinson and Jumping Bean? Chemists, plant shops, hairdressers...  the list goes on... it's good to have healthy competition 

Ooooh! Two cheese shops

But all those examples sell a wide variety of things,  and mostly they are well spread out along Lordship Lane.

These two shops both sell one very specific thing, albeit in different flavours, and are just across the road from each other.

I don't think you can compare the distribution of shops in Roman times to the distribution of shops in Lordship Lane in the twenty first century. Well, you can, but it doesn't feel very appropriate.

Haa anybody asked the first shop how they feel? Are they happy about the "healthy competition" ?

Edited July 27 by Sue

[Angelina]

It’s about chains, and the ethos of family run business versus unhealthy competition 

[David Peckham]

21 hours ago, teddyboy23 said:

£4 pound in poundland buys me pack of ham slices£1 pack of cheese slices £1 pack of cakes£1-50 should last a week sorted.plus 50p for one sip of larger.

Very economical. Are you available for events?

I've got a gathering of 5000 coming up soon.

What could you knock up with two little fishes and five loaves of bread?

Cod in breadcrumbs? Fish finger sandwiches? Spanish-style croquetas de bacalao with a Romesco sauce?

It's BYOB for beer, so there's no need to worry about that and I've managed to do an unbelievable deal on water and wine.

Drop me a DM on here or ask for Dave or Jesus (pronounced 'Hay-Zooze') in The Herne, left hand side of the bar.

Edited July 28 by David Peckham
Sp

[HeadNun]

Not only can he turn olive oil into Vermouth, but also water into a wine. A true miracle worker. 

16 hours ago, Sue said:

But all those examples sell a wide variety of things,  and mostly they are well spread out along Lordship Lane.

These two shops both sell one very specific thing, albeit in different flavours, and are just across the road from each other.

I don't think you can compare the distribution of shops in Roman times to the distribution of shops in Lordship Lane in the twenty first century. Well, you can, but it doesn't feel very appropriate.

Haa anybody asked the first shop how they feel? Are they happy about the "healthy competition" ?

I wouldn't say a wine shop sells a wide variety of things - and there are two right next to each other. 

And once upon a time, upmarket pizza shops were very specific. So were burritos etc. These Argentinian cornish pasties are clearly becoming mainstream; we should consider ourselves lucky to be witnessing this exciting upward trend within our lifetimes and on OUR HIGH STREET. We can tell our grandkids that we remember when there was no internet and no empanadas. 

I'm sure that if the family empanada people have a good business head, they'll be able to ride this wave of competition, just like Bruno has. 

Edited July 28 by HeadNun