P1971, how does it compare to previous years? I'd always assume Jan would be a bad month for small shops generally as most people have spent all their money at Xmas and Jan is a long month with people often paid early in December...Hope end of the month and Feb goes better for you.

OakR it's similar to last year, but the difference is that Dec 2012 we were all really busy for about 3 weeks running up to Christmas so we made up for January, 2013 we were only really busy for about 4 days. Maybe it was because the weather was so bad.

I suspect it may also be because we are all feeling the pinch a bit more with the cost of just about everything going up but salaries staying static - so in real terms, we're all feeling a bit worse off.

We have two good salaries coming into the house and are by no means poor but we just don't have as much disposable income as we used to so while we would love to be able to spend regularly on Dartmouth Road (we love the shops and cafes - although must admit, sweets aren't our thing, and we're not quite ready to let our 3 yr old loose in a sweetie shop...) for us, it's a treat rather than something we can do particularly regularly.

I do hope all the businesses on Dartmouth Road survive but please, don't berate us for not shopping - we'd love to, but it's not that straightforward!

Going back to the thread about the coffee shop, I didn't notice it either. It is a shame as we need more shops on the Catford side of the station, but agree it's got to satisfy demand. Personally I'm not a fan of Canvas and Cream. I went there the other day for lunch with my daughter and waited ages for our order. When the food showed up, it was a bit dissppointing. It's just s bit too poncy for the Finches location. But...a nice cafe with sofas, wifi and good coffee, playing relaxing music, now what's not to love about that?!