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Josephine and Kathleen Wright in Patisserie Deux Amis |
Patisserie faces closure as centre takes slice of trade
A PATISSERIE in King’s Cross fears it could be forced to close after 15 years following a drop in trade with the multi-million pound redevelopment of nearby Brunswick Centre.
Josephine Wright, of Patisserie Deux Amis in Judd Street, said sales have halved since the revamped centre was unveiled a block away.
She added: “It’s just appalling. I know you can’t make people eat where they don’t want to, but having huge multi-nationals in such prime sites doesn’t give us much of a chance.”
Ms Wright bought the lease of the shop as a gift for her mother Kathleen when her father was seriously ill.
Together they turned it into an elegant, French-style café which enjoyed a “roaring trade” for more than a decade
But now she fears she will be gone within a year, along with other independent shopkeepers, as trade continues to drop off.
She said: “We keep being told the opening of the Eurostar terminal at King’s Cross (in 2007) will boost business, but I’ve seen no evidence of that. I’m not sure we’ll last until then anyway.”
Leigh Street pharmacist Kirti Patel said sales have plummeted by 25 per cent since branches of supermarket Waitrose and high street chemist Superdrug opened in the Brunswick Centre.
Mr Patel, 48, who has run John Walker Chemist for 19 years, said: “They sell all the toiletries and cosmetics we sell but we can’t compete. One of their big aisles holds the equivalent of my whole shop. I hope we can survive.”
The manager of another Bloomsbury pharmacist, established 31 years ago, admitted Superdrug had been “very bad for business” and said it too faces ruin.
The Brunswick Centre branch of Superdrug can administer NHS prescriptions only after 5.30pm as its contract application to Camden Primary Care Trust (PCT) was rejected. Independent pharmacists fear that, if Superdrug is granted the contract on appeal, it will be the final nail in their coffin.
At a Bloomsbury neighbourhood meeting last Monday, Labour councillor Penny Abraham described the Brunswick Centre as “an economic miracle considered a disaster by others”.
Judd Street Residents’ Association is calling for free parking bays to help boost trade. Association member Dr Joan Maw said: “I walked past the patisserie the day it opened and I’ve been coming ever since. It would be awful if it had to go.” A council press official said parking bays are not under consideration in the area.
Marchmont Street Association chairman Ricci de Freitas said most traders had not reported losing trade to the new shops.
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