The dullest, blandest shop in Brixton

[editor]

The winner has to be the new Vodaphone shop by the tube station.

Anaesthetic, bland, unfriendly, dull and as corporate as you like, Brixton's main shopping street is all the worse for it.

Yuk.

[Mrs Magpie]

What, even worse than Carphone Warehouse?

[rubbershoes]

Wouldn't they give you a decent upgrade then editor? :p

[Griff]

I fucking hate bland mobile shops springing up in every High Street.

A Carphone Warehouse seemed to open overnight in Epping the other week, bland, boring, soul-less places they all are too.

[chegrimandi]

walking around Brixton the other day I have to say I was struck by how 'high-street' all the shops were......like the main bit by the tube is mentally high-street in what shops there are.....hardly any non-chain small shops....no pound-shops (I saw), if you compare it to say stoke newingotn high-street/kingsland road, I know where I'd rather be....a lot more variety, decent small-locally owned and run shops selling all sorts of shite.....

[suzee blue cheese]

Personally, I hate Argos. Nasty building, nasty shop.

[PacificOcean]

walking around Brixton the other day I have to say I was struck by how 'high-street' all the shops were......like the main bit by the tube is mentally high-street in what shops there are.....hardly any non-chain small shops....no pound-shops (I saw), if you compare it to say stoke newingotn high-street/kingsland road, I know where I'd rather be....a lot more variety, decent small-locally owned and run shops selling all sorts of shite.....

It's handy having proper shops on your doorstep. Saves having to travel.

I would hate a Daltson/Stoke Newington style high street. Unless I wanted to buy bush meat or a 10 ton box of spanish washing powder for a quid.

[IntoStella]

I would hate a Daltson/Stoke Newington style high street. Unless I wanted to buy bush meat or a 10 ton box of spanish washing powder for a quid. Sounds good to me. :cool: :cool: We get through a lot of washing powder on the dirty ol' streets of brixton town. ;)

Besides, you get the best of both worlds in Stokey -- gritty multiculturalism on the high street and cocktail quaffing Talulahs in the Bahs of Church St.

[chegrimandi]

It's handy having proper shops on your doorstep. Saves having to travel.



what are 'proper shops' ?

[PacificOcean]

Shops that I actualy use such as Foot Locker, Tescos, and the like. As opposed to pound shops which I don't use. :)

[IntoStella]

what are 'proper shops' ?
Oh you know... vodaphone...argos... ;)

Edited to add, I was going to say Foot Locker as a joke. :D:D

If you want shops, why not go to Croydon? They've got all your favourite megacorporates all selling the same shit from Lands End to John o Groats. :p ;)

[Minnie_the_Minx]

The winner has to be the new Vodaphone shop by the tube station.

Anaesthetic, bland, unfriendly, dull and as corporate as you like, Brixton's main shopping street is all the worse for it.

Yuk.


Knew it was there having seen it when crossing road to go into tube. However, yesterday I came out of tube, went into Sainsbury's, across the road into Marks and back again and DIDN'T even notice it :o :D

[chegrimandi]

cocktail quaffing Talulahs in the Bahs of Church St.


nah they've all moved down to brikkers for the 'proper' shops and more expensive drinks, apparently its more street...... :p ;)

[IntoStella]

nah they've all moved down to brikkers for the 'proper' shops and more expensive drinks, apparently its more street...... :p ;)Ahhhh, that explains it... ;)

[PacificOcean]

Oh you know... vodaphone...argos... ;)

Edited to add, I was going to say Foot Locker as a joke. :D:D

If you want shops, why not go to Croydon? They've got all your favourite megacorporates all selling the same shit from Lands End to John o Groats. :p ;)

Yes, but if they are in Brixton it's handier than travelling to Croydon (which is involves a marathon trip on the 250)

[IntoStella]

Yes, but if they are in Brixton it's handier than travelling to Croydon (which is involves a marathon trip on the 250) Nobody gets the 250 -- it goes via Swansea!

Get the 109, it's twice as quick. :D

[Pie 1]

The winner has to be the new Vodaphone shop by the tube station.



It's truly awful. You almost lose the will to live just passing it's door.

[PacificOcean]

Nobody gets the 250 -- it goes via Swansea!

Get the 109, it's twice as quick. :D

The 50, 109, and 250 all seem as broad as they are long!

[IntoStella]

The 50, 109, and 250 all seem as broad as they are long! I know what the problem is. You just can't wait to get back to Brixton with your fresh haul of Enya CDs, can you? :p

[hendo]

Shops that I actualy use such as Foot Locker, Tescos, and the like. As opposed to pound shops which I don't use. :)

You use footlocker? I went in one to buy some trainers and the staff really didn't seem to know anything about them.

[Brixton Hatter]

The winner has to be the new Vodaphone shop by the tube station. Anaesthetic, bland, unfriendly, dull and as corporate as you like, Brixton's main shopping street is all the worse for it. Yuk.
Don't worry, a bit of graffiti and a cracked window will soon brighten the place up ;)
You use footlocker? I went in one to buy some trainers and the staff really didn't seem to know anything about them.
Go to Frank Johnson sports on Ferndale Road - a proper sports shop. Places like Footlocker are just urban style outlets. No one buying stuff from there actually takes part in sports. :rolleyes: ;)

[gaijingirl]

I went into footlocker once when I first started running...... was immediately put off by the 16 year old selling me shoes who didn't know a thing about what he was selling. Went to a proper sports shop afterwards (cityrunners off ludgate hill)...also got decent squash shoes in Frank Johnson...... which gives you a discount if you have a Lambeth Leisure card.

I don't understand why we have so many crap trainer shops and mobile phone shops....... how many bloody pairs of trainers and mobile phones does a person need??????? :mad:

[PacificOcean]

I don't understand why we have so many crap trainer shops and mobile phone shops....... how many bloody pairs of trainers and mobile phones does a person need??????? :mad:

This is Brixton, the home of bling.

[PacificOcean]

I know what the problem is. You just can't wait to get back to Brixton with your fresh haul of Enya CDs, can you? :p

:D

I said it once, I'll say it again. Enya rocks!

[IntoStella]

also got decent squash shoes in Frank Johnson...... which gives you a discount if you have a Lambeth Leisure card. Good point. I got my last pair from Clark's but I really must go to Frank Johnson and get some decent trainers for gymming in. [old fogey] A lot of that foot locker stuff is all about fashion, not what makes a good pair of sports shoes. [/old fogey]

[chegrimandi]

[old fogey] A lot of that foot locker stuff is all about fashion, not what makes a good pair of sports shoes. [/old fogey]

too right I heard youngsters these days buy training shoes that have got pumps in the sole. I mean how impractical if you stood on some glass wouldn't they deflate? I mean how impractical is that....bring back green flash....cheap and practical.....


did I say practical.........








practical....

[IntoStella]

too right I heard youngsters these days buy training shoes that have got pumps in the sole. I mean how impractical if you stood on some glass wouldn't they deflate? I mean how impractical is that....bring back green flash....cheap and practical.....
did I say practical.........
practical.... Look at that saddle! It's like a bloody razor! ;)


Dunlop Uniroyals = 1977 cool. :cool: :cool:

[hatboy]

Yeah, the high street is getting much more bland... despite the council's saying all the time that they "support small local businesses and the unique character of Brixton".

They've been saying this for years as the market and interesting, small shops fade out, sadly. Makes you wonder whether they mean it doesn't it?

Argos is useful, but the building is very disappointing (hailed as a great success by Lambeth, of course).

Sorry this post is so cynical, but unfortunately it is true.

[PacificOcean]

too right I heard youngsters these days buy training shoes that have got pumps in the sole. I mean how impractical if you stood on some glass wouldn't they deflate? I mean how impractical is that....bring back green flash....cheap and practical.....


did I say practical.........








practical....

Style over subtance. Though I am guilty as the next as I paid a 1er for Nike Shox Turbos (they are very nice though :cool: )

[PacificOcean]

"........ and the unique character of Brixton".


.

It's not many places where you can find an Argos, Marks & Spencer, Yams, Planten and Crack on the same street. :)

[jæd]

:D

I said it once, I'll say it again. Enya rocks!

I thought Enya just made those swishy nyargh-nyarg-nyou songs...? :confused:

[IntoStella]

Yeah, the high street is getting much more bland... despite the council's saying all the time that they "support small local businesses and the unique character of Brixton".

They've been saying this for years as the market and interesting, small shops fade out, sadly. Makes you wonder whether they mean it doesn't it?

Argos is useful, but the building is very disappointing (hailed as a great success by Lambeth, of course). Great piece of urban design: a building you can put dents in. :rolleyes:

I'd be more cynical, if anything. Can anyone cite one little shred of evidence of the council supporting local businesses and market traders?

[Mr BC]

Great piece of urban design: a building you can put dents in. :rolleyes:

I'd be more cynical, if anything. Can anyone cite one little shred of evidence of the council supporting local businesses and market traders?

The council spends lavish amounts of money on 'Town Centre Managers' who lead teams of people who are supposed to help local businesses. They hand out shop front grants etc. Not convinced they actually get anything done. In Norwood, for example, the long term decline in the high street just continues for economic reasons and no shop front grant is going to stop it.

[lang rabbie]

I hear murmurs from Town Hall sources that Lambeth might actually employ some proper business development workers, having realised that the misleadingly titled "Town Centre Managers" are running around dealing with 57 regeneration strategies and initiatives, and unable to do any town centre management as the term is generally understood in the retailing world.

However, seems unlikely to materialise until 2005-06 - if it gets through the "star chamber" scrutiny process for weeding out bids for extra money.

[PacificOcean]

I thought Enya just made those swishy nyargh-nyarg-nyou songs...? :confused:


She makes ambient soundscapes.

I meant rocks as in is very good, rather than the tradional guitar-based rock type affair. :D

[johnniebutterfl]

I don't understand why we have so many crap trainer shops and mobile phone shops....... how many bloody pairs of trainers and mobile phones does a person need??????? :mad:
I think you're forgetting the ubiquitous Nail Bars
Can this collectively mean that gentrification is not as far advanced as so many Brixton 75'ers seem to fear? :confused:

[Ms T]

Went to Frank Johnson once to try and get trainers, and they were just as crap and uninterested as Footlocker et al.

[hatboy]

There sure are alot of nail bars. Saturation point will see to that. Has anything really good been lost to a nail bar? Not sure. I mean the repetition is not very interesting, but it's not like where new drinking places sometimes replace well liked former pubs.

[editor]

There sure are alot of nail bars. Saturation point will see to that. Has anything really good been lost to a nail bar? Not sure. I mean the repetition is not very interesting, but it's not like where new drinking places sometimes replace well liked former pubs.Why is a traditional bar being lost to an identikit style bar any worse than a traditional shop being lost to an identikit nail bar?

Same difference to me.

[hipipol]

suzee blue cheese posting as hipipol:

Went to Frank Johnson once to try and get trainers, and they were just as crap and uninterested as Footlocker et al.

Isn't that the nature of trainers though..

Imo we're poorly served by shops in Brixton. Yes we have the market and all the food stuff but apart from that unless you do want your nails done or buy sportswear or phones or cheap shoes or tack from lacklustre pound shops (of which the High Street has at least two) then you have to go out of Brixton to shop.

Robills on the other hand was a pound shop par excellence and always worth a good browse.

With few exceptions, the common denominator in Brixton is 'cheap'. Whether it's actually cheap or just cheap goods at high street prices. When faced with buying clothes or presents for peeps, I always check out Brixton first, as it's good to support local business and I hate going uptown, but usually end up getting something elsewhere.

Having said all this Brixton is far better than my home town which is full of charity shops selling stretched and bobbled New Look.

[Gramsci]

I agree with what a few posters have said about Dalston.A friend of mine from Brixton worked their for a while and said the shops were as interesting as Brixtons used to be a few years back.

I also think that despite having "Brand" shops like Vodaphone the range they sell is pretty crap compared to the West End.That goes for clothes as well.I never buy jeans in Brixton for example.

Their are (dare I say it) affordable designer brands with a better range than you get in Brixton-like H&M,Mango etc.If the Brixton main road is going to have stores it might as well have good ones.Historically the main road has always been for department stores.M&S store has been their for years.

How the Arcades & market -where the cheaper and more varied range of goods are available -should be retained is the important issue.

I think the dullest blandest shop is now Woolies.It used to be OK and then they ruined it.

[IntoStella]

Oh yeah, I just remembered. Somebody had eloquently expressed what they thought of Argos on Sunday. They had done a big poo in the doorway. :eek: :eek:

[PacificOcean]

Oh yeah, I just remembered. Somebody had eloquently expressed what they thought of Argos on Sunday. They had done a big poo in the doorway. :eek: :eek:

I know I live here, but Brixton is so fucking scuzzy. Where else would that sort of thing happen? :mad:

I saw a bloke having a piss up my wall this morning. Broad daylight. Just standing there pissing away (on the road, not round the back even) :mad:

[editor]

I saw a bloke having a piss up my wall this morning. Broad daylight. Just standing there pissing away (on the road, not round the back even) :mad:That's a near-hourly event in front of my block!

If it's not drunks pissing in full view of the block by the fucking hideous billboard hoarding, it's junkies doing one - or all - of the following:

1. rummaging around in hedgerows
2. having a piss under the tree
3. having a piss in the hedge
4. having a shit under the tree
5. having a shit in the hedge
6. Injecting in the hedge
7. Leaving needles in the hedge
8. Leaving needles by the path.

Joy!
:mad:

[Minnie_the_Minx]

That's a near-hourly event in front of my block!

If it's not drunks pissing in full view of the block by the fucking hideous billboard hoarding, it's junkies doing one - or all - of the following:

1. rummaging around in hedgerows
2. having a piss under the tree
3. having a piss in the hedge
4. having a shit under the tree
5. having a shit in the hedge
6. Injecting in the hedge
7. Leaving needles in the hedge
8. Leaving needles by the path.

Joy!
:mad:


Not all at the same time I hope? :eek:

[Mrs Magpie]

Oh yeah, I just remembered. Somebody had eloquently expressed what they thought of Argos on Sunday. They had done a big poo in the doorway. :eek: :eek:
I saw someone (very elderly and very possibly senile) do that in the aisle in Tescos a few years ago........

[academia]

Anyone know what's happening to the hardware shop near the job centre?

It's all boarded up, hopefully just for renovation. Don't know where I'll buy my screws etc. otherwise.

They have revealed an interesting 'Timpson Shoes' sign in their efforts tho.

[innit]

I know I live here, but Brixton is so fucking scuzzy. Where else would that sort of thing happen? :mad:

I once saw an old lady having a poo in a bus stop on Camden High Street :eek:

To be fair to her, I think she actually lived in that bus stop. But even so.

[Brixton Hatter]

I think the dullest blandest shop is now Woolies.It used to be OK and then they ruined it.Sorry, but I love Woolies! You can buy almost anything in there, from kids clothes and DVD players, to picture frames and saucepans. It must be one of the most popular shops in Brixton.

Robills I miss terribly :(

[Bob]

It's not many places where you can find an Argos, Marks & Spencer, Yams, Planten and Crack on the same street. :)

I'm tempted to suggest they get together in a joint venure. :D Very cheap ready made crack and yam souffles spring to mind as a product.

[editor]

I'll say one thing for the new Vodaphone shop - it's made the lazy fuckers at the Carphone Warehouse next door clear up their shithole of a shop.

Now there's actually phones on display instead of empty boxes!

[Miss Orbit]

I miss Robills but a sufficiently Brixtonised Woollies is a pleasing substitute, imo... I especially adore the aisle apparently full of random items from the Innovations catalogue: nuclear cleaning agents in tubs, things for grilling things, dusting gadgets, silicon gel bra-inserts, etc.

Who said there weren't any pound shops on Brixton High St? I can think of two within coo-eee of the tube and there's probably more than that. If you want bush meat and huge vats of corn oil, simply step around the corner to the market or Atlantic Road. Tsk.

What's this wierd inverted snobbery about esoteric niche businesses anyway? Dalston High St's alright for a Turkish coffee and a laugh at the hilariously PhotoShopped family portraits, but I wouldn't want to rely on it for fresh food, underwear or emergency greetings cards. Brixton's got everything - you can make choices about where you shop, and you should.

Re. the council's policy of "supporting small businesses" - I used to work for Brixton TCM, so let me dredge up what the line was then from the dark recesses...

Ok, got it... The idea is that bringing in High St retailers encourages customers to shop locally that might otherwise jump on a bus to Croydon or the West End. These businesses are supposed to employ local people, and do so in larger numbers than your average family-run bush-meat emporium. Basically, the little shop-owners just have to battle it out to stay in business, but realistically, they are competing with each other, not M&S or even Iceland, b/c these are pitching to a different customer anyway. Apparently Brixton ground rents are very high, but this is down to freeholders, not the council & I don't know if there's anything the council can do to control that...

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Anyone know what's happening to the hardware shop near the job centre?

It's all boarded up, hopefully just for renovation. Don't know where I'll buy my screws etc. otherwise.

They have revealed an interesting 'Timpson Shoes' sign in their efforts tho.


Had a look yesterday, it's in the middle of a refurb and downstairs is already open. It's now called Force Homecare (I think)

[rascal]

i was thinking about renaming my kitten bling-bling

[IntoStella]

Had a look yesterday, it's in the middle of a refurb and downstairs is already open. It's now called Force Homecare (I think) A daring departure from its 'old' name, which was...




...Force Homecare.


:p

[Minnie_the_Minx]

A daring departure from its 'old' name, which was...




...Force Homecare.


:p

Ah yes, but the logo's changed and it's actually 4orce Homecare (well that's what it looks like) :rolleyes: And it's not blue and whatever colour it was before either :p

[rascal]

My favourite shops:

Homeforce
Coldharbour Lane Newspapershop (next to Albert)
House of Bottles
Frontline off Licence
Shop in tube station

The Hardware shop Homeforce - my favourite brixton shop - gave me a discount the other day. On a circuar saw blade priced £37. They offered it to me for £20 but i talked them up to £27. Class huh. I am very proud of meeting generousity with generousity but stevie my partner thinks i lack fiscal sense.

Also on a similar note the shop on the tube station. Lovely people. Yesterday I said that 'as usual was a pleasure doing busines' and today the lady returned my compliment. Isnt life wonderful.

Just wonderful.

Hope you all have a day as beautiful as you are you beautiful people you

[Minnie_the_Minx]

My favourite shops:

Homeforce
Coldharbour Lane Newspapershop (next to Albert)
House of Bottles
Frontline off Licence
Shop in tube station

The Hardware shop Homeforce - my favourite brixton shop - gave me a discount the other day. On a circuar saw blade priced £37. They offered it to me for £20 but i talked them up to £27. Class huh. I am very proud of meeting generousity with generousity but stevie my partner thinks i lack fiscal sense.

Also on a similar note the shop on the tube station. Lovely people. Yesterday I said that 'as usual was a pleasure doing busines' and today the lady returned my compliment. Isnt life wonderful.

Just wonderful.

Hope you all have a day as beautiful as you are you beautiful people you

What a nice thought to get on the tube with (I'm sure when I actually get to Victoria Station I'll change my mind) :D

Goodnight

[IntoStella]

Ah yes, but the logo's changed and it's actually 4orce Homecare (well that's what it looks like)
Horse Homecare? Not much call for that in Brixton except at the copshop stables.


Anyway, shouldn't it be 4ce?

[twisted]

My favourite Shops In brixton:
1. German Swedish French, Acre Lane
2. NISA (ex-Mace), Brixton Hill

um that's it.
I'm off to (equidistant) Streatham for some service..

cue Curry's & Halfords rant

oh fuck it... why bother