Anger at Sainsbury’s store bid nearby Hackney’s Broadway Market
Tony the greengrocer on his stall, Broadway Market Photo: © The Hackney Citizen Ltd
Bosses at Sainsbury’s have been branded “like vultures” after the supermarket giant applied to open yet another branch in Hackney – this time a stone’s throw from the independent retailers of Broadway Market.
The Sainsbury’s Local store could open before Christmas after an application was lodged with the Town Hall for permission to sell alcohol at the premises on the site of an old shoe factory in Mare Street.
The Broadway Market Traders and Residents’ Association (BMTRA) is opposed to the plans, which Andrew Veitch of Broadway Market Projects warned could lead to job losses.
Sainsbury’s said it believed the new store would be a “positive addition” to the area, adding that it would consult residents.
Plans for a whopping 2,200 square metre Sainsbury’s in Wilmer Place, Stoke Newington, have already sparked widespread anger amid fears that small businesses could be harmed.
In October hundreds of protesters dressed as zombies took to the streets of the area in protest.
In anonymous comments on the Hackney Citizen’s website and blogs elsewhere some residents have suggested that the debate over the supermarket is indicative of a class divide, with only the more affluent new arrivals to Hackney opposed to the arrival of the supermarket giant.
But Andrew Boff, a Conservative London Assembly Member, said this was “a distortion”.
Mr Boff said: “People like to caricature those who are against Sainsbury’s as middle class organic shoppers who pay £4 for a few tomatoes. That is an absolute distortion. I really want those people who are saying this is a middle class obsession to look in the eyes of people whose jobs will be lost and to say ‘You are a middle class obsession.’”
Mr Boff said he was opposed to the Sainsbury’s near Broadway Market as there were “already five supermarkets there”.
He said: “These have taken the risk in good years and bad years, and then people like Sainsbury’s come in like vultures without taking any risk. They employ fewer people per square foot of retail area, contribute to the further distance goods have to travel before reaching the shelves and damage the environment because of this obsession they seem to have with wrapping everything in large amounts of cellophane. Do we want money to be sucked out of the local economies and channelled to the shareholders of large companies, or do we want competition at a local level?”
A Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said: “Our experience shows that Local stores can increase the number of people who shop locally, improving choice, value and availability of good food to residents who would otherwise have to travel further afield.”
I Hate the big chains – stainsburys and trescos etc…too many already – another co-op on the other hand?
but the reality is that the people who shop in broadway market are a small % of the borough but big in economic power…
two cities side by side and rarely overlapping –
Just as well really because it would get a bit crowded in La Bouche if everyone from the estates decided to do their shopping there.
Another bad article. Mare Street is not Broadway Market! A sensationalist headline which is trying to pull on peoples heart strings.
Another plan that’s bound to get the middle class immigrants of Hackney up in arms. How DARE they taint our bijou little ehtnicky area with a chain!
Its not about middle class immigrants Gav. Im from a comprehensive school and live on a council estate, and I don’t want yet another identikit High Street, its boring. We have enough chain stores, its about supporting small businesses and interesting shops.
@gav Wander down Broadway, visit the 5 stores and tell them they’re ‘bijou’. Your technocratic narrative doesn’t work. These are stores offering goods at cheaper prices than at Sainsbury’s, employ more people than Sainsbury’s and the don’t screw up the environment like Sainsbury’s.
@Simon n16 – look on a map
http://easteight.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/sainsbury.gif
The effect of the Sainsbury’s will be to weaken Broadway as the local shopping area after years of local effort to bring it back as the centre of the local community.
Yeh your right Simon the News of the World would proud of this piece.
Search Being a Dickhead’s Cool in Youtube for a fantastic explanation of Hackney these days
@ Andrew Boff – my point is that the proposed convenience store is not on Broadway Market as the article suggests, and as your map confirms.
I wonder if there would be a big fuss at all if it was a Spar or something similar?
Broadway Market’s arriviste Blairite clique don’t want the Sainsbury’s development blighting their ‘village’, so what are the odds of it going ahead?
@NomDeGuerre “Broadway Market’s arriviste Blairite clique”! erm……
That ill aimed caricature failed to stick against the wall I’m afraid.
@SimonN16 Yes, the BMTRA would probably have objected against any retail development on the site. The prime concern was allowing the change of use without any reference to the viability of Broadway as a local shopping street or consultation with local traders. The fact that it was another job-destroying Sainsbury’s just made the pill more bitter.
Boff how can this Sainsbury’s be job destroying??? It will create jobs and I bet surrounding shops will benefit from the customers it attracts. Are you sure your a Tory? I think you’ve been around Jules Pipeshaft to long
Children, please! Fact: grocery stores are the heart of Broadway Market. They provide good, inexpensive food for, among many others, the elderly and infirm who won’t be able to walk to the new Sainsbury’s on Mare Street.
But there ain’t much profit in the elderly and infirm – certainly not enough to pay Broadway Market rents. So if the mobile middle classes take their custom to Lord Sainsbury – with his added attraction of a free cashpoint – the grocery stores will go bust. Where will the elderly, the infirm, mothers with kids … I could go on … shop then?
And what happens to the people who work in those shops? Do you honestly think that they will all find jobs at Sainsbury’s? What will replace those shops? Yet more restaurants? And then what happens to Broadway Market as a local high street, a place at the heart of the community?
Almost as worrying is the fact that this has happened with no local debate: Lord S. was given approval for his new store by council officers without even consulting elected councillors. This was entirely legal. And astoundingly undemocratic.
The only path left to us is to oppose the store’s alcohol licence. We who believe in the Broadway Market community beg you to do so.
And I should have added John’s fruit and veg stall (pictured above), Henry Tidiman’s butcher’s and the excellent Fin and Flounder to the five grocery shops now under threat. One store arrives, eight die. Where is the sense in that?
@Andrew Veitch Who do you think you’re kidding? It’ll be the less affluent “elderly and infirm” who’ll be the first to move their custom to Sainsbury’s where they can enjoy cheaper prices and a store that adheres to disabled accessibility legislation.
Let people shop where the hell they like, and stop expecting the community to effectively subsidise inefficient shops.
@NomDeGuerre: you don’t happen to live in Stoke Newington, do you? 😉
@ ‘Mark Trotter’: Research by the New Economics Foundation shows that the opening of chain stores typically results in a net loss of local jobs, as chains undermine the viability of local shops and thus destroy more jobs than they create: http://www.neweconomics.org/sites/neweconomics.org/files/Ghost_Town_Britain_II.pdf.
@GSOB: You don’t happen to be Andrew Boff are you?
@NomDeGuerre: not guilty as charged – I’ve never been known to so much as vote Tory, and Andrew Boff probably has far more kudos in Hackney than I have.
Interesting that you should attempt to recycle one of my pet cliches in this discussion though (usually aimed at N16’s New Labour Islington wannabes); I suppose imitation is the greatest form of flattery…
@NomDeGuerre who’ll be the first to move their custom to Sainsbury’s where they can enjoy cheaper prices I’m sure that the big stores will be relieved to know that their vast expenditure on marketing has persuaded somebody. Supermarkets loss-lead to drag the custom in and destroy the competition. Then they milk you once you’re in the door. Here’s a comparison of Tidimans on Broadway and the existing Tesco on Morning Lane:
Grade “A” Norfolk Chicken –
Tesco £3.73
Tidimans £3.40
30 eggs
Tesco £2.98
Tidimans £2.75
Lamb Chops
Tesco £14.99
Tidimans £9.50
Best sausages
Tesco £5.69
Tidimans £5.50
Ham off the bone
Tesco £15.70
Tidimans £11.50
ps – I have never been a sockpuppet. I’m too vain for people not to know it’s me.
@Mark Trotter (a definite sockpuppet!) – Just checked the membership card – yes I am a Tory. Mr Pipe and Hackney Labour seem to be in awe of big money – they like big supermarkets, chain stores and get annoyed when you mention Spirit of Broadway Market or any other small businessman who won’t give in to The Man.
And some of these people want chicken shops and bookies where the chavs and rudeboy scum hang out.
I like you Boffy and am avaliable for any babysitting. Just ask your Labour oppo for references
Once upon a time, I would have regarded the opening of a Sainbury’s Local or Tesco Metro store as an improvement to an impoverished area. However, given the outbreak of commercial landlord greed since the ‘credit crunch’ and the inflation-busting price increases on certain lines by the major supermarkets, I’ve become sceptical of claims that the arrival of the big brands on any given shopping street is somehow for the greater good – particularly when such claims are made by people who don’t want similar developments in their own back yard.
@Andrew Boff: Well done Tidimans! It would appear that Broadway Market has nothing to fear from a new Sainsburys.
Now all Tidiman’s needs is a national advertising campaign…
Meanwhile, in Shoreditch, the Boxpark is opening:
http://www.boxpark.co.uk/
“These are stores offering goods at cheaper prices than at Sainsbury’s, employ more people than Sainsbury’s and the don’t screw up the environment like Sainsbury’s”
That’s great – if that is the case, obviously no-one will shop at Sainsbury’s then. So let ‘the man’ open his shop and close it six months later at a loss. In the meantime, who are you or for that matter anyone else to deny others the opportunity of choice?
Exactly these arguments were used when Tesco opened on the Lower Clapton road – it’ll force other shops to close, it’ll disrupt traffic, its environmentally bad (though quite how moreso than your average corner shop I dont know) and yet, a year on, none of that has come to pass. In fact, the shops close to the new Tesco seem to be doing better than ever, because its become slightly more of a shopping destination.
im no particular fan of chain stores myself but im definitely not a fan of the idea of a middle class clique deciding what is and isnt acceptable for wider society. This is, after all, a free country – or is outside of the socialist republic of Hackney.
@gav: their opposition is rooted in snobbery not socialism.
@NomDeGuerre: Touche! Snobbery finds a comfortable, ‘inclusive’ home under a leftist mask.
@Gav: you live in Hackney, under the Pipe regime, and you’ve only just noticed that?! 😉
In the instance of Broadway Market though, I do suspect that there’s genuine concern about whether or not an additional small supermarket would have an adverse long-term effect on a local economy which is sensitive to quite minor changes. Not sure I can say the same about Stoke Newington though…
@NomDeGuerre @Gav Snobbery under a leftist mask? We are trying to protect our grocers. Do you know the shops I’m talking about? Have you seen them? Do you think that they are high priced niche shops? That’s the only explanation I can imagine for your accusations. Come round and walk the walk with me and I’ll introduce you to them. 07778 059 290
We might also have a conversation about what constitutes a free market.
@Andrew Boff I know the shops well. But surely you’ve already demonsrated in your ealier post (Dec.1) that supermarkets are no threat to local grocers.
Or do you think that local residents are too thick to decide for themselves where they want to shop?
@NomDeGuerre Residents are informed by large marketing campaigns which have repeatedly been shown to be dishonest. The large supermarkets use their positions not to compete (which is fine) but to suppress competition.
By weakening the local shopping street (an error made over the past few decades by government planning legislation) you reduce the footfall and threaten the viability of the community centres turning them into inhospitable places. (e.g: Broadway before 2004).
You can, of course, settle back on the laissez-faire argument that we should scrap all planning objectives and allow it all to happen, irrespective of the damage that that does to the local economy. But do we – as a community – want hollowed out cities and communities prey to whoever is the biggest player, turning our nation of shopkeepers into one of employees of large corporations? Or do we want the diversity and innovation that comes from encouraging a large number of players? It’s a choice that can be made without facile accusations that those who are concerned are just ‘middle class’ – the people who could lose their jobs would be surprised at such a description.
“By weakening the local shopping street (an error made over the past few decades by government planning legislation) you reduce the footfall and threaten the viability of the community centres turning them into inhospitable places”
But isnt a Sainsbury’s local (as opposed to an out of town supermarket) by that same reviving the Mare street shopping area? Again, I return to the example of Tesco metro a mile away in Clapton: it has helped to improve footfall in that area. Your point would be valid if you were talking about, for example, ASDA in Leyton Mills. In this instance, it is not.
Furthermore I doubt the future of Broadway market is in jeopardy because of Sainsbury’s – this is more likely to affect Lidl on Well Street. And anyway, the arrival of any competitor is a signal on incumbents to up their game – hence the success of somewhere like Palm 2, which offers a significantly differentiated product on LCR compared to Tesco rather than the relative decline of the sort of shops where the mushrooms gave mushrooms growing on them and the onions are small plants.
@The Great Smell Of Brute: I actually understand the opposition more to the Sainsbury in Stoke Newington than this one – its clear that will add to congestion on what is already an overcrowded stretch of road for a start. I found the ‘zombie walk’ amusing, yet I’d like to know whether anyone realised that it would be more appropriate if they had gone on a chav walk (or the salt-of-the-earth working class, as they used to be called).
One more thing – Broadway market (as well as a number of other stretches of high street in Hackney) became ghost high streets in the 70s and 80s not because of the proliferation of ‘local’ supermarkets, but by depopulation of higher income households. The move in by the big boys is a sign of the recent revival of the fortunes of the borough instead of its impending doom. Let’s not mix up cause and effect.
@Gav Your analysis would work if the footfall wasn’t already high at Broadway. The argument is the same if it’s an out of town development or a local shopping centre. The new Sainsbury’s will weaken the footfall local residents have worked so hard to increase since 2004.Hackney’s decision was not surprising, just depressing. It shares your expressed contempt for small grocers and independents. https://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2011/12/07/hackney-council-clr-james-library-dalston-starbucks-cafe-decision/ I’d carry on voting for them if I were you.
@The Boff: My analysis is actually based on the idea of improving footfall on Mare street. I happen to think that the footfall on Broadway market will be largely unaffected by Sainsbury, being as it is definitely A3 rather than A1 in focus. Anyway, its hardly as if Broadway market is struggling these days – and perhaps with your Hackney and wider London hats on rather than your BMTRA one, you might spend your energies more productively on looking at improving conditions in places like Well Street and Chatsworth Road rather than fighting for Broadway’s now privileged position (albeit one gained through the hard work and diligence of people like yourself – and well done for that).
As for ‘carrying on’ voting for them – and I assume you mean Labour here – Ive never bothered voting in a local election. I happen to think that both local and, to some extent, regional governments are a frivolous waste of time and money, on the most part…..
I certainly think that hand-wringing about whether Starbucks is going to open a cafe in Hackney or Tesco or Sainsbury a local shop, is, and what’s more it is both against the concept of freedom of choice and insulting to others to suggest they dont know any better than to buy a bucket of warm milk if they want or some sliced bread as opposed to the £3 pound a loaf version they can get at your lovely little market.
@Andrew Boff “Residents are informed by large marketing campaigns which have repeatedly been shown to be dishonest. The large supermarkets use their positions not to compete (which is fine) but to suppress competition”.
It sounds like you should be complaining to the Advertising Standards Authority rather than doing what you accuse others – suppressing competition!
Your argument regarding the increase in post-2004 footfall doesn’t bear up to any scrutiny. Do you not think this was due to the influx of large numbers of monied residents?
Your arguments are so all over the place on this issue I suspect that you’re simply playing to your perceived audience rather than engaging in honest debate.
One place that needs a Tescos is Hoxton.Unluckily for us all that seems to be opening in the market itself are art galleries.
Pat – there are 2 Tescos on Hackney Road, Two on Bethnal Green Road, 1 on Commercial Street and 1 on Shoreditch High Street – is that not enough?!
Nowhere ‘needs’ a Tesco!
There are various other shops and supermarkets in Hoxton. I know of 2 Co ops, plus many small independent grocers.
Hipsters Twin –
The ‘chavs and rudeboy scum’ happen to be the local residents of this area whose selves and families have lived here for way longer than your posh, pretentious self and your ‘fixed gear’ riding trendy twat friends!
lollo I have lived here all my life,I went to Shorediych comprehensive ishcool in Falkirk street.So dont tell me about the area and dont try and put me down because of this.
@Pat: some of Lollo’s comments were directed towards hipsters4win and his earlier remark about ” chicken shops and bookies where chavs and rudeboy scum hang out”, so I wouldn’t take them personally; in fact, it crossed my mind to pull him up on this myself and point out that the ‘chavs and rudeboy scum’ are also residents of various parts of Hackney, and are just as entitled to have their economic wants served as anyone else, however distasteful he might find it.
On the subject to Tesco, they do appear to have followed the monied new arrivals and ignored poorer neighbourhoods.
THanks GSOB i was trying to say that anyone wanting to shop now gets on the 394 to the Angel.I think that i mentioned before how the markets been left to rot.All part of a master plan perhaps?
Gav and NomDeGuerre are absolutely spot-on with their comments.
I live directly opposite the new Sainsburys site and can confirm that myself and my neighbours shops for staple groceries at Iceland (Mare Street), Lidl (Well Street) or Tesco (Hackney Road) – not Broadway. Why? Because there isn’t a shop there that offers the same range of goods under one roof. If you’ve got time to pop into multiple shops that don’t necessarily share the same opening hours for your produce then that’s great but I don’t. Sainsburys is an organisation that has worked hard over the years to bring multiple products together for shoppers’ convenience, which (bizarrely) seems to be an unfashionable concept these days.
Retail competition is a reality that Broadway shop owners were well aware of when they decided to set up their business. If they have a great shop and competitive prices, they shouldn’t have anything to worry about right..? Oh, the big budget national advertising campaigns. I doubt they will drag people from the Broadway area over to Mare Street.
Last point fro me: various Mare Street shop units have been empty for some time and are obviously being sold off on the cheap as they are being used as car parks (yes, cars inside shop units) and non-retail business that don’t make use of the shop windows. This has degraded the immediate area and well-presented new shop would certainly lift the mood of an otherwise rather dreary-looking strip.