Green shoots

fc123

SingleSue wrote: »

Lol, nope 1st date still to come this Thursday....we have been conversing via the telephone and text so far.

Did have a chat a couple of years ago though so he isn't completely unknown.

Sorry, I am not paying attention. Hope it goes fantastically.;)

fc123

Kez100 wrote: »

More so than Carnaby Street which had the odd fun shoe shop but nothing else appealed to me.

All I could think of when walking down Regent Street was how the Iceland Banks and Philip Green had taken over the world! We soooooo need a change although I am very sorry we are all going to pay for it.

The whole Bauger/Mosaic story is coming to a conclusion. They ramped up commercial property values to silly highs and it's going to take a while for things to settle down.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/4551321/The-rise-of-the-Baugur-empire-may-only-be-matched-in-scale-by-its-collapse.html

"It always looked like a pack of cards that would one day fall over," he added. "Pretty opaque shareholdings, strange structures and incestuous relationships with the banks: It never smelt right, but its formidable PR machine tried to tell us otherwise."
Baugur roughly means "ring of steel" in Iceland. The irony of that message will not be lost on the likes of Sir Philip this weekend as they wait to pick off parts of an empire which swept all before it for the best part of a decade.
The legacy of Baugur's staggering rise and fall could be that conglomerate ownership of scores of high-street brands is deemed flawed and that independence is the key to survival. But, for a brief spell, Johannesson's Baugur became a high street colossus. The revelation that it had feet of clay will leave a lasting memory on the high street

The property company that took over Carnaby some years back has spread itself into Soho...and is killing off all sorts of unique business that has traded there (successfuly) for years.
I had a meet with them years ago and their plans for the area were very ambitious. On the surface, the area is humming, but it will be interesting to see how it looks in 5 years time.
Niche, creative retailers will always find a place or way to trade.

Kez100

Of course they will. Carnaby Street didn't start becase it had a name - the name was made because of the traders. Take those intuitive people away and all you are left with is a tourist sightseeing venue where they may spend a little but will be as happy to go away with a memory or photo next to a street sign.

The indies will find a home - even a new market somewhere.

Actually, on the train on the way home I overheard a converations about Camden Market. I wondered if possibly that would have appealed to me more than Carnaby Street.