A Sainsbury's local won't blight the entire parade because it won't stock bikes, wooden furniture, toys, gifts or pet accessories. It won't provide us with a chinese takeaway, a taxi, or deli counter, nor will it frame our pictures, sell/let our houses, or do our dry cleaning. It won't offer us a place to sit down and have a coffee, a glass of wine, egg and chips or some patatas bravas. So that covers 90 per cent of HOP parade, for which business will improve because of the extra footfall.

Fully support any supermarket moving in(provided that it is not an Iceland or Co-op). I will continue to get my bread and other goodies from the Deli, but a supermarket would cover the missing ingredients. The nearest supermarket is in Forest Hill which is quite a walk.

As someone pointed out earlier in this thread, the amount of new residents getting off the train every 5 - 10 minutes during rush hour is growing exponentially. Hopefully this is a sign that the area is ready for new good businesses on the high street.

would the land registry tell us who's bought the premises ( or is it being leased)?

Rumour has it it's being leased. Whoever owns the funny antiques place owns the two premises next door and all the flats above. Bought the whole lot last year for around 900K. Apparently he's been in negotiation with Sainsbury's for a while. This is a rumour, mind you, so don't pay it too much attention!

interesting - Then i guess one of us shuld just knock on the door and ask them whom they sold the lease to ( unless they signed an NDA) - save all the speculation!

This article says that one Elliott Rosenberg owned a chunk of Honor Oak. He appears to have sold a lot on, but may still be the owner

I do think people should curb their enthusiasm (or outrage) until we find out what company is actually coming to the parade. Sainsbury may well enhance people's lives (fresh fruit and veg is sorely missing from Honor Oak) but I don't think an Iceland would at all.

152047 hits the nail on the head, I think the tide is finally turning in HOP and the fact that a large chain now recognises the huge potential of our little area has to be a good thing for everyone

I will still buy my beer from the HOP supermarket and I always aim to buy as much stuff as poss from them, they are extremely friendly and I always have a good chat with them. However stuff like fresh veg and meat need to be available on the parade, I have to drive to the supermarket at the weekend still which is a pain frankly

This post was last modified: 31-01-2012 08:12 AM by Southlonder.

More often than not it is those people who oppose plans that object to any planning application submitted to the council. People do have the opportunity to offer their support to something they believe would be of benefit to the community.

For those people in favour of these plans, it would do no harm at all if we let the planners know (and in turn, not only those who made the application, but also the prospective occupants). There is a link to the planning application on the first post of this thread, and at the bottom of the page it takes you to is a link to e-mail the required department.

Simples

I remember these cotton bags everyone was wearing SHOP local support local! Im tottaly against a Supermarket at Honor Oak.
We all want to live a healty life style ( well maybe not some..)
We all love going to the counrty some, cycle go to historic places travell around the world ect.

Well you know what Im talking about... Im sure when hiking in the Alpes the first thing you think of is a Sainsbury local??? The planet is fine the people are ............what are some thinking??


There is a Sainsbury in Sydenham one in Forest hill a Budgens in Brockley!! Do we really want to live in a LAS Vegas of signs & take way shops?

Elliot Rosenberg does own it and has bought the shops
In one he placed his antiques in the front window. Not for sale just to show off
And where do we think he might live? Guess???

This post was last modified: 05-02-2012 11:39 AM by suchalife.

Well, not in the flat above the shop, if that's any relief. Companies house says the gentleman resides in Northwood, Harrow. Considering that he has a good few directorships in pub/hospitality businesses, perhaps he/the investment co he's involved with could add a nice and shiny new pub in HOP to their property portfolio?

I don't want a major company like SAINSBURY'S opening up there - but looking at the planning application it's difficult to see any obvious grounds for objection. The only thing I can see that looks wrong is the size of the proposed retail space (316 sq. m) and the proposed opening hours (7am - 11pm 7 days a week). My research online tells me that Sunday trading laws restrict opening hours for shops over 280 sq. m. But I find it hard to imagine they would make such a basic mistake.
My concern is for Honor Oak Supermarket, which in the 7 years I've lived here has served me well as a corner shop. They stock a remarkably wide variety of goods to my mind for such a small unit, and it's rare that I need to go elsewhere when topping up. I get most of my food delivered by Ocado except for meat, which I go to Peter James on Ewhurst Road for, ever since I discovered there was an actual traditional butcher there. I can see the appeal to many, but I don't personally want to give my trade to big monopolies like SAINSBURY'S or Tesco. It's an ethical thing for me. I'm lucky I can afford to consider such things. I have to say, it's currently rumour that this would be SAINSBURY'S- as far as I can see there is no information on thelanning application other than that it will be a retail outlet, the size and the number of jobs it will generate.

I don't really get most of this argument. In an ideal world I would like to be able to shop locally in Honor Oak at an independent butcher, fishmonger & greengrocer. As this has not happened, and doesn't look likely anytime soon, I would still rather use the local shops than merely for top-up goods.

I am no fan of supermarkets either, but they have their place. Am not seeing the ethics of not using Sainsburys but using Ocado instead. They both punch their weight in the London online market.

You are right, however, to raise the concern of the Honor Oak Supermarket. Whatever opens up, and we don't know what that will be yet, will probably mean that they will have to diversify somewhat to survive. To give them their due, they have done some of this already. For instance, they stock a few Mr Lawrence wines (the Off Licence would do well to pick up on this idea). If they started selling more fresh veg then that would work I think.

For shops that adapt and complement the new supermarket, this is an opportunity. We buy very little food from a supermarket anyway (of any sort), but to get more of what we need locally would be a boon. And this could be the spur that enables that.

I love the Honor Oak Supermarket and use it regularly for basic staples, but there is no getting away from the fact that its selection of fresh fruit and vegetables is terrible - as it is for the other local shops that I also support whenever possible. The wastage involved in stocking fresh perishables is prohibitive for small independents, and I can understand their reluctance.

It is, however, very inconvenient for people like myself who don’t have a car to walk to a different town, be it Crofton Park, Forest Hill or Sydenham just to pick up a banana or box of cherries. Whilst I'd love a proper grocers to cater for our needs, the sad truth is that in this day and age most people would still buy their goods from a supermarket, making such a business unlikely to be viable unless people can do the rest of their shop locally along the same parade. For this you'd also need a butcher, a baker (though probably not a candle stick maker ) and so on.

I had access to a Tesco Express where I lived previously and it was the single most useless shop in the known universe, but it still succeeded in closing down its independent competitors within 2 months of opening. I fear the same will happen in HOP to those small shops in the same space, but I cannot deny that I would use a Sainsbury’s local if it were to open, if only for my fresh produce which is otherwise unavailable in the immediate area.

I believe Ocado to be a more ethical company than the major supermarket chains. I believe they are more supportive of suppliers and a lot of their stock is Waitrose badged. Waitrose is a partnership organisation and I therefore feel their "staff" (or partners) get a better deal.
I may be mistaken in my beliefs, but until I find a better way, that is where I choose to shop. I don't have access to a car, so local or delivered are my main options.

Nitoda, am not making a value judgement here. Chacun a son gout. :-)

So, I take it you would be in favour of a Little Waitrose then? If so, as it happens, I agree with you, this is a much better supermarket. It would also present a much greater challenge for the existing stores, IMO, including the Deli. However, I think that the same deal applies - ultimately the shops that co-exist with a larger supermarket, will be stronger ones. And Bcm could be right, some may have to close for this to happen. It's a cutthroat business isn't it?

A few observations on this thread:

• How do we quantify Ocado being more ethical than other supermarkets?
• It seems that we are in danger of equating business survival to having a local monopoly?
• a local shop is not required for the people who can travel out to other areas or get deliveries but what about the people that cannot?
• Most seem to agree that their is a lack of local fresh items
• some of the businesses need to change for the better to complement a new addition
  

'suchalife' you are misinformed. Mr Rosenberg has absolutely no ownership of or involvement in these properties. He is undeserving of your claims of vanity!
The interesting items in number 55 may well be for sale and several parties have posted notes through the door and been accommodated. I believe there is also a telephone number in the window.

It's just marketing. They're no more ethical than any other retailer. Purely a way for ex-City boys to make money.

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