What do you think about the probability of Starbucks moving into Kentish Town?
Rumour has it that the predatory US mega chain, which owns over 650 stores in the UK, has been looking around three sites: one, just up from George’s Barbers on the cusp of Kentish Town/ Fortess Road, and two others in what is now Sam’s Chicken and the delightful London Bead Company, the fine needlecraft store dating back to 1990.
Readers may remember the heated debate before Xmas on both sides at the opening of Space NK in Primrose Hill and the Costa in Tufnell Park. In the discussion that followed the article, readers slugged it out over the value of both independents and chains in NW1 and NW5. “Only the shareholders will benefit from this,” said indie shop owner Phil Cowan, “not the local economy.”
“How many people (not just in Primrose Hill) who moan about the loss of ‘independent’ shops actually shop in them?” asked Tim, whilst Nead added: “I’m all for Costa in Tufnell Park, even Archway has one! It’s about time the area had a shake up, too many shops open and close around there.”
Yet it goes without saying how passionate we are about the finest independent coffee outlets in the area, places like Bean About Town, Doppio, Wine Cellar, Mario’s, Houspresso, The Fields Beneath, Arancini et all. And it seems you lot are too: in the 2012 coffee awards they happily received votes in droves.
So how strongly do you feel about the potential arrival of Starbucks in K-Town, either way? And would you petition against it?
36 thoughts on “Is Starbucks Sniffing Around Kentish Town?”
In Kentish Town are there any coffee shops that you can work in? There are several reasons not to like Starbucks, but most of their outlets are well set up for remote working.
Tufnell Park has more options, like Rustique Café, Cafe Delight and Stingray.
It is as simple as use them or lose them. Petitions, marches, opposition is all a complete waste of time. If you want a local street full of interesting local shops owned and run by locals, use them. Of you do they have a chance. But bad ones will fail.
I love KT, but it’s daft to think that a Starbucks will reduce the attractiveness of the High Street. I like the indie coffee shops but they’re not primarily on the main drag of the High St; I can’t see a Starbucks reducing custom for anyone except perhaps Pret and Costa. And I’d sooner see a Starbucks on the high street than some of the skankiest indie shops or even better, instead of empty space (Kuttzone anyone?).
Starbucks is the worst offender when it comes to coffee shops. To be avoided at all cost.
KT has plenty good coffee, something Starbucks apparently doesn’t even have on offer…
Dudismo is being a bit selective with his memory about supermarkets leaving Kentish Town. I don’t know the details of M&S, but there was a small Sainsbury’s on Kentish Town Road in the ’80s. Sainsbury’s themselves closed it when they opened, what was then, a goliath of a supermarket in Camden Town. They saw no reason to have another store half-a-mile away.
But times change with the introduction of smaller “local” branches of the major supermarkets they went back to areas they had left with small branch stores. If anything kills of local shops it is the major supermarket chains.
And it’s not just shops, in the 80s I used to buy my fruit and veg from Inveness Street & Queens Crescent markets, both are now ghosts of what they were then. The last time I went down Inverness Street it had one fruit & veg stall and the rest sold tourist tat.
I suppose it’s inevitable Starbucks open in Kentish Town Road which has slowly been “gentrified” (whatever that means) over the last few years, but I won’t be using it, the only time I did use one they didn’t actually seem to sell coffee, but coffee-flavoured frothy milk.
I wasn’t being selective, just brief; I missed Sainsbury’s when they went, although the new supermarket in Camden Road was a welcome addition in those days as it had a much wider selection than most “indie” shops could or would offer at the time. I always bought my fish from Carter’s and my veg from Walton’s, both before and after they opened the CT supermarket.
I’ve managed never to go into a Starbucks, but it would be better than having another empty shop unit.
Indies can also force other indies out, Charlie, who used to have a small organic shop in KT Road was heard to allege that the arrival of Earth Natural Foods just up the road was what forced him to close down.
The site right next to George’s is also rumoured to be taken by a local estate agent. The loss of the Bead Company would be awful. Yes, I’ve shopped there quite a bit. I doubt a Starbucks right next to our little cafe would make any difference, I actually opened it with a mind of offering an alternative to the one down at South End Green.
On the flip side, who else can afford the rents? The Tally Ho shop units could do with something (anything?) being there, but there’s not a lot of footfall once you get into Fortess/Highgate Roads. With the Bull & Gate going maybe the Forum gig goers would like to enjoy a crappy cuppa coffee ( copyright Elf) before they dance.
By the way, Michael at George’s is a fantastic barber. That’s where I get my hair clipped.
Dappio forever, Starbucks never!
I will gladly support any petition against Starbucks setting up in K T God forbid !
Coffee at Starbucks is not even good. They have no idea about how to do an espresso. They always manage to burn the coffee beans. The problem with chains like Starbucks p, Costa and pret a manger, is that they drive up the rents in the area, making it impossible for the independent shops to survive. So, no, Kentish Town does not need a Starbucks.
A bit off topic maybe, but how can anyone serve good coffee in paper cups? I went to my local indie coffee place and yes the coffee was nice but ruined by the taste and texture of the paper cup. At least in starbucks you can get a cup if you are sitting in.
The other thing about my local place is they had some lovely looking bacon and egg confection on display. when i asked if i could have a fresh one. They said why dont you have this one? I’m going to throw it away anyway. No offer to get me a fresh one. So I drank my cardboard coffee and wandered home never to return
Keep em out! There is nowhere in KT or TP to get a decent coffee, but that’s no reason we deserve crap chain coffee as well! So depressing to see ANOTHER crappy costa open up in our area.
Not sure if serious.
It’s worth noting that planning permission has been put in to change the use of the Kutt Zone site from retail to financial services. This tells a depressing tale in itself. It’s a great location – near the tube – and yet evidently no retailer, independent or chain, wants to make a go of it.
This is a reminder that those who think Kentish Town Road can sustain just independent stores are too utopian. It is a very long high street with many small units. Some of those that are already there struggle.
I’d rather have a Starbucks than an empty store or Sam’s Chicken. Don’t like it? Don’t use it and support the independents instead, as I try to do. But there are plenty who will exercise the choice to go to Starbucks and I don’t have a problem with that.
No doubt if Starbucks do try to open it will cause protests and petitions. If Kutt Zone became an estate agents…not so much.
The asking price for the Kutt Zone site was £33k per annum.
Lovely to see a perfectly middle-class debate on coffee shops. That’s what you get when people move into the area with a few quid and like to think they’re now working class and belong. They don’t. The snobby, Emperors new clothes coffee issue may exist in many of the minds of the new locals but not one original local that I know uses them. They drink beer or tea! That said, if you want all independent shops (that by their nature) charge more, you will end up with a little enclave that doesn’t include shops that the working-classes can afford. Perhaps, that’s what you’d like?
What, no possibility of peaceful co-existence? I was under the impression that a healthy mixture of social classes in a given neighbourhood helped independent shops such as greengrocers, butchers and fishmongers stay in business.
Starbucks….quelle (f) dommage…Starbucks sniffing right under our noses – if only we were sniffing freshly baked bread and had a bloody bakers for brioche and baguette to fill empty spaces…I am under the impression we now live in Kentish Ville – yet no sign of a French staple..freshly made bread or merde coffee…zut alors!
No thank you to Starbucks in KT. We have so many lovely indepedent cafes serving excellent coffee, I for one would be sad to see Starbucks open up here. Why can’t we have a lovely French bakery open up instead?! Come on la Francophonie!
The simple issue with Starbucks (apart from the shocking ‘coffee’) is that once a unit is let at the rate a multinational can afford, it sets a precedent and independents don’t have a hope. I simply can’t believe bright local people are resigned to the plastic identity a high street made of chains has to offer. Can we rally our new KT French friends? A Parisian I know living in London is simply appalled at the idea of drinking coffee out of cardboard….
I so agree about the lack of a good bakers. Someone is missing a trick. Why doesn’t someone open a really good bakers, where it’s necessary to shop every day as they do in France? I travel miles to try to get good bread and have even taken a bread making course, I’m so desperate; but I’d really like to spend some money on decent bread.
Starbucks has a particularly ugly reputation for opening new outlets in areas with small independent cafes and coffee shops, undercutting their prices and then increasing the prices after the small shops are put out of business. This is not done to benefit the local community but to increase the profits of the multinational corporation that is Starbucks.
Starbucks is one of the biggest tax avoiders, having avoided paying corporation tax in the UK for the last 13 years. That is money that could and should be put into benefitting our communities. In December, they announced that they are cutting sick pay for the first day’s sickness of their 7000 UK workers – not only will those 7000 people suffer but so will we when the staff are forced to turn up to work ill, spreading disease. And this is nothing compared to what Starbucks get up to in the rest of the world – in November, the Mirror carried the story that Starbucks were paying staff 25p an hour in new Indian cafes despite making £222 million profit in three months.
Is this really the kind of outfit we want to welcome to Kentish Town? I will gladly sign any petition, and more, to support those who really do contribute to the local community, not those who are unethically exploiting people the world over for the sake of obscenely huge profits.
Starbucks has a fixed price pretty much UK wide (save for the franchises in the Motorway services), one thing I’ve never seen them do is vary prices to undercut locals, have you _actually_ seen that happen?
I’ve seen in the states where they compete by opening far more hours than a small independent can, but that’s a different kettle of fish.
Undercutting prices ? Anyone charging over £2 for a cup of coffee (Starbucks £2.20 minimum) deserves to be undercut !
Starbucks have been sniffing around for years… They are looking for the “right site”….. Can I please just mention that at this point in time The London Bead Co are NOT going anywhere. Putting this in people’s heads does more harm than good….. We do need to keep our small independent shops open. However this becomes increasingly hard when the landlords want to up the rents forcing these small businesses to close down. The council does not care because this increases the rates…. So shop local… Shop at our lovely little unique shops.. Because we are all working/fighting hard to stay open…. 🙂
It’s just the final stages of Gentrification…………….. Over the last 10 years Kentish town has gone from being labelled a ‘murder mile’ where street violence and drugs were a serious problem, to one of the most desirable areas in London down to it’s location an ‘diversity’ appeal. The area has improved greatly over the years in lots of ways, but shitty corporate chains like Starbucks are just one of the downsides of gentrification. Soulless chains that do nothing for the community are sadly what you have to put up with these days once your area climbs out of being known as a ‘rougher’ part of town. 10 years ago they could have opened a Starbucks and no-one would have gone in. Now because of the type of person that has paid to move in to to the area, they will do well. Not much more to it in my opinion.
The issue is bigger than Kentish Town it’s to do with corporate companies running the world. Start opposing that on a deeper level and you wont find them knocking on your doorstep.
I’ve lived in Kentish Town since 1986 and they’ve been banging on about ‘gentrification’ as long as I can remember. Couldn’t get more gentrified than the Owl bookshop in 1986…I am happy that the changes which are a natural evolution and the high Street still includes Pound shops and oddities like Blustons alongside Costa etc The mix of housing in Kentish Town will always prevent it turning into (god forbid) a Highgate or Crouch End.
I love seeing independant shops being succussful along the high street and i’d rather see more of them however empty premises or shops constantly opening and closing is not something that is good for the area. I’m sure with the great coffee shops we already have, people would most likely avoid starbucks but it’ll be better than Sam’s Chicken. From my contacts, Kutt Zone’s change of use is for another betting shop not an estate agency but an agency currently up on parkway is going to be George’s new neighbour.
Absolutely passionate about the local independent shops. We already have Costa, which is a bit of a shame, though their coffee is good, and much better than Starbucks. Responding to previous comment, what a shame we’re getting another betting shop. Those along with the cash shops bring the tone of the street and area down. Even though it’s also a chain store, Marks and Spencer, or the like, is actually what we need!
We know that Starbucks is interested in KT because they tried to buy the lease of what is now Kentish Canteen from Harry Dasht, owner of Harry’s Fine Foods. This was when he was developing the site to turn it into R.E.D. restaurant. Harry turned down the (very generous) offer, which was his loss but our gain.
Given the presence of both Pret and Costa in the high street, it would be surprising if Starbucks *were not* sniffing around KT.
Having had the lovely opportunity to witness gorgeous independent coffee shops opening in K Town over the last couple of years, I was gutted to read this article. I hope it is a rumour and nothing else, but just in case: https://www.facebook.com/events/507695605959452/
Let’s take inspiration from this lot: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-20079092
Happy to have them, good coffee, usually with decent facilities and wifi, and generally cleaner than some of the independents, especially on Fortess Road… Agree that Kuttzone might be a good space. I think they will be a positive addition to the local High Street
From very reliable sources we hear that the landlord of Fortess rd has raised rents to £30k pa ‘to match the premium paid by Costa’.
PS. Do try Cardigan Club Café, the food’s lovely and the coffee is far superior than anything else around there.
Does anybody know what is happening to the premises where kutt zone used to be
They have taken the lease at 325!