Looks like a re-fit is in progress. Anyone know what’s coming?
hopefully NOT a Nail-Bar, Coffee Shop, Vape shop…Its quite a small site so I find it hard to envisage what may take it on..
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Can’t agree more! Would be nice to have some sort of fruit & veggies shop, that is open slightly longer than 5pm 
. Or a 24h pharmacy- there is none in the area.
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Coincidentally, one half of the shop was Vickers greengrocers probably up until the 80s.
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I think the fundamental problem for both traditional fruit and veg shops and old style bakeries we’d love to have is the economics. The value of each sale is relatively low and margins are tight, so they need to sell a very high volume to remain viable. Years ago, when more people did their everyday shopping locally, that volume was much easier to achieve. With today’s shopping habits and supermarket competition, sadly these kinds of traditional shops are much harder to make financially viable.
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agree ! economics aside I’d welcome a REAL fruit and veg shop AND a pharmacy
even 9-7pm would be nice.
Being nosey I phoned the commercial estate agent when a sign went up above it saying a lease or sale had been agreed. They were tight lipped about what was coming but said the community would probably welcome it.
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Nail bar / beauty / barbers then lol.
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Or…because perhaps we don’t have enough..
A coffee shop!
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I was wondering just this weekend about why FH doesn’t have a ‘Turkish/Mediterranean supermarket’, like in Sydenham or Catford. They have really good fruit (and veg I assume!) which is more varied than the mainstream supermarkets. And the shelves are crammed with a wider assortment of products too.
Was the former Paddy Power unit a lost opportunity for a Mediterranean supermarket? There would have been plenty of pavement space for a fruit and veg display.
I wonder why FH doesn’t have one? Is Sainsbury’s too big a competition?
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The spot is ideal for a front-facing public office for the Neighbourhood Policing Team. The premises might need some strengthening (one of the ex-Bank buildings would have been better), but something would be better than nothing. Maybe the Council could share the Office, so that someone is there 24 hours.
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I’ve just seen a reminder in an old thread that Beetroot and Beans on Dartmouth Road sell fresh fruit and veg, although their opening hours are more limited than a supermarket.
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and their fruit and veg is fairly limited too
Another Pilates studio! At this rate Pilates studios will outnumber nail bars and coffee shops.
It’s interesting to see the evolution of the high street after the decline of retail, and that types of business that weren’t even a thing 20 years ago have emerged and are hopefully flourishing.
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Yawn..
Another Pilates/Yoga space that a lot of us can’t afford.
As someone who has done Pilates on-and-off for years and recently retired I wanted to start regular practice again.
I was finding it incredibly hard to get a space in the classes at Forest Hill Pools so I looked into some of the Pilates spaces in east Dulwich/Dulwich Village and around the Forest Hill area I was surprised at the kind of prices most charge for blocks of lessons/classes and who knows how good the actual teaching is?
happily I was recommended the courses with Adult Learning lewisham on Brockley rise…
They only run in term time but they’re really affordable and the teacher is INCREDIBLE!
I know my post is off topic in the main however my point is Forest Hill town centre could do with many things, a new Pilates studio/coffee shop/nail bar/estate agent/hairdresser is surely surplus to requirements
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After doing some digging on the Dartmouth Arms after my last post, I stumbled across the plans for the ex KFH unit on the Lewisham planning portal (only lodged last week) - https://planning.lewisham.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=_LEWIS_DCAPR_133242
Appears to be a full renovation of the existing estate agency unit to a new Pilates studio trading at Mind & Motion (mind-motion.com). They have one on Northcote Road and Streatham High Road.
I think it’s a good use for the site and type of operator.
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If we have identified the applicant Mind and Motion company correctly, it’s a chain with two branches/franchises in London and two in Dubai.
But the crowdfunder doesn’t mention that. Is this the same company?
It’s before 7am so I may not have woken up properly yet and you may have to excuse me, but I understand that Mind Yoga & Pilates (at 53 Dartmouth Rd) is a relatively new business and a totally separate entity to Mind & Motion.
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If you click through the link from Michael’s post or RJSE23’s post, the application form gives Mind & Motion Ltd of 82 Nothcote Rd as the applicant.