Jump to content

Pretty's on North Cross Road


AmeliaB

Recommended Posts

I have spoken to Chris Burgess, who runs Pretty's on North Cross Road. Sadly, he has been unable to reach an agreement with the owner and the locks have now been changed at the shop.


As this was a family business that had been going for five generations I wondered if anyone would want to pay tribute to the shop as a Dulwich institution for a story in the Southwark News?


I do not lift comments from this forum as I consider it a private space for community discussions, but if you want to say anything about the shop, your memories of it etc, please call me on 0207 231 5258, or email me at [email protected]


Many thanks


Amelia


PS if you don't want to say anything but you are interested - the story will be in the paper out next Thursday

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/43301-prettys-on-north-cross-road/
Share on other sites

Nothing to contribute AmeliaB but just terribly sad that this has happened. As an early morning walker down North Cross Road, Chris has always been there with a cheery good morning - I will miss this. I've heard a rumour that it is going to be another hairdressers. Unbelievable if true.
We r so totally gutted - we walked past at 8.30pm and the bailiffs were changing the locks - Chris had no idea it was going to happen - it seems so underhand of the new owner and tragic that a truly useful shop has been closed against a lot of community resistance. There is so much talk about saving our high streets yet in the end the council was powerless to step in. I can't comprehend why the new owners - landor land ltd - have not been more community focused ?? Prerry's will be hugely missed.

alixandjames@btinter Wrote:

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

> We r so totally gutted - we walked past at 8.30pm

> and the bailiffs were changing the locks - Chris

> had no idea it was going to happen - it seems so

> underhand of the new owner and tragic that a truly

> useful shop has been closed against a lot of

> community resistance. There is so much talk about

> saving our high streets yet in the end the council

> was powerless to step in. I can't comprehend why

> the new owners - landor land ltd - have not been

> more community focused ?? Prerry's will be hugely

> missed.


This is very sad, but it was a family dispute that went sour. This is not the fault of the new owner but in fact the family that sold it off in the first place.


What was the community resistance exactly?

speedbird Wrote:

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


> This is very sad, but it was a family dispute that

> went sour. This is not the fault of the new owner

> but in fact the family that sold it off in the

> first place.




Agreed.


Although I too heard the hairdresser rumour (this was a while ago), and that would be pretty naff (no pun intended).

It is a great shame, Chris and the family will be missed, as will the business. Apologies for digressing slightly, however Threshers has been sitting empty on Lordship Lane for nearly 7 years. I know the rent has ben paid up until 2016. And I know the local councillors have been trying to convince the landlord to lease the place, however is there no regulation in place, where the council, can compulsory purchase a property? I know this happened on Bellenden Rd, when the Bellenden regeneration took place.

I mentioned this because, businesses like the green grocers, may have a chance at starting again elsewhere, locally.


Edited because I cant spell

Your suggestion is an interesting one Monica. The best person to give you an informed answer might be someone like James Barber - one of the local councillors who posts on this forum and has a kind of 'online surgery' here. Why not put it to him directly?


I've just popped down Northcross Rd and am pleased to report that Pretty's is open and has a very brief reprieve in its current location. I stocked up eagerly and suggest that all supporters of the business do the same.


I sincerely hope that a new location in the area can be found for this particularly useful and long established business. It would not be an exaggeration to say that I moved to this area almost twenty years ago for the privilege of having shops like this (of which we have very few) on my doorstep.

alixandjames@btinter Wrote:

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

> We r so totally gutted - we walked past at 8.30pm

> and the bailiffs were changing the locks - Chris

> had no idea it was going to happen - it seems so

> underhand of the new owner and tragic that a truly

> useful shop has been closed against a lot of

> community resistance. There is so much talk about

> saving our high streets yet in the end the council

> was powerless to step in. I can't comprehend why

> the new owners - landor land ltd - have not been

> more community focused ?? Prerry's will be hugely

> missed.

Helena101 and fleur The psychic twins


Fleur: Perhaps because Prettys was the only independent green grocers in the area.That said, if they can find a lockup for storage, perhaps they could run a Friday and Saturday Stall in North Cross Road.



Helena101: Maybe because Prettys was the only independent green grocers in the east dulwich .But if they can find a lockup for storage, perhaps they could run a Friday and Saturday Stall in North Cross Road.

I have just popped down to find Pretty's closed...it is so sad that this has happened to a family business who has been trading 47years..apparently the petition that Chris, and several of us got together, was not even looked at! Like Jenny, I have lived here a long time...and have been going to Chris all this time and cannot believe that ED has no grocers to speak of (whilst SMB stock a limted amount...it isn't the same at all)

There must be something collectively that all of us, who would like to retain a family run good grocers, can do?? to either write to James Barber (I will certainly get in contact with him)or find out if Southwark can offer something, as Monica says, in regenerating an empty shop like Threshers for a grocers...that is crazy it has been empty all this time! In a time where we have countless food-centric cafes/restaurants in ED,it seems mad we don't have a good grocers!

Come on ED ..let's see what we can all do!

Yes - how bizarre.


alice Wrote:

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

> Helena101 and fleur The psychic twins

>

> Fleur: Perhaps because Prettys was the only

> independent green grocers in the area.That said,

> if they can find a lockup for storage, perhaps

> they could run a Friday and Saturday Stall in

> North Cross Road.

>

>

> Helena101: Maybe because Prettys was the only

> independent green grocers in the east dulwich .But

> if they can find a lockup for storage, perhaps

> they could run a Friday and Saturday Stall in

> North Cross Road.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Latest Discussions

    • Where did I say he did a good job? Yup and Corbyn was very close to Len McCluskey and funded by Unite wasn't he...they're all as bad as each other... Labour have to purge their party of the far-left - they're a disaster. Allan Johnson summed it up so well on election night in 2019....  
    • Thank you for the detailed advise @trinidad It is definitely damage we are concerned about. I don’t think Evri would agree to pay the bill to fix our gate or letter box if they were to be damaged as a result of their delivery drivers helper. Our doorbell can be heard from outside when rung so we don’t quite believe the aggressive simultaneous door/letter box banging is necessary. It can be quite a shock it is done very aggressively.  I’ll definitely action the steps you’ve kindly provided along with a phone call tomorrow. I do sympathise with the role drivers have and how busy they are, which is why we tried communicating directly with her but sadly we haven’t succeeded 
    • What outcome would you like? Disciplinary action? Not to have the driver back? Retraining? I know there is alot of pressure on drivers to deliver within a set day. if he slams the gate, is it evidence he is causing damage, or is the noise a irritant to yourself? You could put a sign up or buy a signing asking to close the gate gentle???? can you hear the door bell from the door? he might be ringing, not hearing and therefore knocking. In trhe notes section of the be livery page, there is a note section, although there is not 100 per cent these notes would be read as these drivers are constantly rushing.  I did a google search for you, i found this and you can try the envri website Contact Us | Evri   To complain to Evri, you can follow these steps: Contact Customer Service: Call Evri's customer service at 0330 808 5456 for assistance with your complaint.    1 Write a Letter: Address your complaint to Capitol House, 1 Capitol Close, Morley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS27 0WH.    1 Use the Official Website: Visit the Evri complaints page on their official website for detailed instructions on how to submit a complaint.    2 Email or Call for Specific Issues: For issues like missing or damaged parcels, you can email or call 0800 988 8888, which is free to call.    1 These methods will help you effectively communicate your concerns to Evri.   My driver is called anthony, he is brilliant to be honest. I cant fault him.
    • When I have more time and energy, I will look up the actual number of votes cast for each party in that election, rather than the number of seats won. I'm interested to see that you apparently  think that  Boris Johnson did a good job of "leading the country through Covid." Is your memory really that short? I won't stoop to calling Johnson and his cronies names in the way that you seem to think is appropriate for left wing politicians. At least the left wing politicians have some semblance of morals and a concern for people who aren't in some over privileged inner circle and/or raking in money for themselves on the back of an epidemic. I'm not going to open a can of worms on here  by commenting on the disgraceful so called "purge". 
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...