We’ve been here about 20 years now – my dad opened up the shop in 1998. The high street today has good and bad things about it – we are having problems with the council about the loading and unloading bays, car parking – there’s nowhere for people to park and they are getting tickets which puts them off coming back. They really need to sort it out. But other than that, there are some good new shops and some developments down by the station – which might be good for business depending on how it goes.
There’s a lot of competition – we’ve had to expand what we sell. Say 10 years ago, we didn’t have that much variety, but we had more turnover, now we have lots more items but sales have dropped because of the competition – too many shops selling the same sorts of things – and the prices are always going down as the shops can see what the others are charging and drop their prices. Our customer base has changed too – a lot more multicultural, new faces, lots of new people have moved into the area.
In the future, probably in the coming future, a lot of the shops around here are going to be shut down – cause the new generation – even myself – were not really bothered to go out to the shops to find stuff – I’ll just try and get it online, which is really affecting the business. Right now, I’d say 60-70% of our customers are over 50 years old – but when that generation goes we will probably have to try and do an online business as the new generation doesn’t like going to the shops.
I’ve worked here for 20 years but been here for 50. It’s become a much more yuppie area – it’s very bad for business as they just go for coffee rather than to buy stuff – they do their shopping on the internet. The market is also going down the drain, in 5 years everything here is going to be coffeeshops and hairdressers.
I have worked here for 4 years; the area has changed a lot especially in the last year. Overall I think it’s changed for the better, there’s a larger variety of people and more young people. I think it’s because of the new buildings being built more businesses are coming – faster than new people are coming but it’s affecting the existing businesses.
What do you think of the market?
It’s good and bad. Sometimes like today we get an increase of customers but other times we have a marquee right in front of out door and it’s covering our shop completely.
Are your customers changing?
Yes, they are changing. A lot of the customers we had before say it’s a little too tough now to spend for example over £5, we’ve increased our prices because of inflation and that situation makes it harder for everyone because they can’t afford higher prices and that’s why they are choosing less good quality food, or buying meals from Tesco or Asda rather than homemade food. We’ve always had clients who can spend more but there is way less of them now.
What do you think the future holds?
I’m very optimistic, I think everything will balance out but right now it’s just a fight for existence because so many new businesses are coming and I think later on some of the current business will close, and those that are able to find a niche will stay. I think this will also happen in other areas of London and we just need to be patient.
What do you wish would change?
I hope and wish that areas like Deptford will change to be better, more clean and tidy, but that’s more a message for everyone. The culture needs to change, the mentality, especially on this street it’s very untidy, there’s rubbish everywhere, school children eating chicken and chips just throw their rubbish on the floor. It doesn’t need to be like that, this is our home.
We still have a lot of crime, it’s a big problem. During the evening hours I decide not to be open because you can’t employ 2-3 people here because it’s very quiet, but if you are alone – especially as a woman – it’s dangerous. I’ve had bad experiences in the past with people coming in demanding money, but nobody seems to care, they are still out on the street. The council need to do more. I want to stay open in the evenings and make more money, which in turn will help the council.
What do you think of the market?
The market it helps us a little bit but when it’s raining the market is no good, they can’t put their goods out to do businesses. They should think about changing the market so it’s more of a permanent fixture, so they can operate in all weather.
Have your customers changed?
Yeah, the new generation are different they go for a different kind of style rather than a traditional breakfast. Some people have moved away to quieter areas, especially those with kids and families as Deptford isn’t the most family friendly place.
What do you think will happen in the future?
In the future, I don’t know, I heard there are plans for a big shopping centre that will improve the area for the better. We’ll wait and see.
How has the high street changed?
I’ve been here 42 years and it’s changed dramatically. It used to be a huge variety of shops, whereas these days all the shops are the same. If one starts selling something the rest will follow, so there is not much variety and that kills the trade.
It’s the same problem with the market, 40 years ago it was really busy, at the time it was only one day a week and it was so busy you could hardly walk down the street. All the stalls were different and varied, now everyone is selling clothes.
There is a parking problem, they are very strict about it – you have to pay for the car park and the road outside they only allow 30 mins of parking and it’s always full up – partly by shopkeepers who keep their vehicle right outside from early in the morning until closing time. So there is no where for customers to park and these days nobody wants to walk.
What do you think the future of the high street is?
I don’t know, but I reckon we’ll always be here. Nowadays you can by everything online and people do – but our trade is different – you have to come in.
How long have you worked here?
I don’t, but Roger’s been here 30 years. The shop has always sold the same type of things, but the market has changed completely with all these new stalls, before you’d have greengrocers all along each side.
What else has changed?
The Anchor, there was always an anchor down at the end which they took away, but they put it back again now. Most of the shops have changed, most of the pubs have closed. There used to be 17 pubs on this street. They’ve changed them to all sorts of things, we’ve got a betting shop on the corner which used to be The Deptford Arms.
Have your customers changed?
Not really, the older people like me they still come in. [Roger] Yeah, the younger generation don’t come in they go to the trade parks, we used to have people coming from afar to this shop in their cars from Woolwich, Heathrow and even one bloke from Rochester.
[Customer] I say to my children please take me to Deptford Market, they say “Mum, I’ll drop you off and then come back” - they don’t like to come here, but I get really cheap things here. They like it when I buy them things, sometimes I get them very good clothes like jackets and their friends will ask where they got them, and I tell them that the shops are always different, it’s just by chance I got that item as the market changes every week. I’m lucky that I have this place.”
What do you think the future holds?
It’s not looking good, this morning I heard Marks and Spencer are closing 100 stores. Everything is going online! This shop will be gone in 5- 6 years. A lot of shops are shutting down because they keep putting the rent up. You can’t pay the rent and live, you either do one or the other. A lot of people would rather go to the upper class market down by the station and by cheese or sausages or olives and it’s much more expensive. What we call “yuppie types” will go down there and pay £3.90 for coffee or £8 for a burger. [Roger] Or a glass of prosecco for £6 – we do a bottle for a fiver!
My name's Debbie and I’ve worked here for 30 years on and off and I also help out on some of the stalls when the fellas need me. I lived in Deptford since I was 16 on an estate, but then they knocked down my river facing council house to build a big tower block with a big fence around it that meant to say “don’t trust the locals”, that’s how I see it all. I think gentrification is unbelievably rude – I just find it stunning – really amazing how the people who are just now coming over here never wanted to live in South East London before. And we have a real culture here, we’ve all mixed and blended since the beginning, and I find now that they are gentrifying the area you’ve got middle class twats standing in the middle of Deptford talking about racism and how they’re going to educate us. I find it very insulting that they think they can teach us ‘how to live with each other’ – when we’ve always been together and got along.
It’s really annoying, you’ve got that new gallery “Deptford does art” – we’ve been doing art since before they arrived, I’ve been painting portraits for 30 years but I’m not included in any of this. There’s a real divide.
What do you think about the Deptford Market Yard?
I haven’t been in it since it opened. You don’t actually come away with anything for your money, it’s all about drinking and eating down there – at really extortionate prices. I find that gentrification is all marketing and hype and there’s nothing to it apart from a few people walking around thinking they are superior to everyone else. Which is amazing - like we’ve lived here forever and a day and they turn up and the first thing they do is Graffiti everything with middle-class graffiti. They’ve done it Brockley, Crofton Park and they’ve done it here. They talk down to me, they patronise me, they think I’m stupid because I come from Deptford. They have this thing about them where they think they need to educate us. We’re super friendly but they’re not joining in.
[Customer] The problem is whoever moves here wants to behave in the way that they want to, forgetting about the norms of the community– wanting to dominate.
[Debbie] They want us to mimic them, in order to be accepted into their new community, they want us to behave like them. If they want to move here they should join in with the existing community rather than trying to take over – it’s just rude.
What can be done?
Well the council they support gentrification, every political party is supporting it – to the degree where this is the first time in my life where I haven’t voted in an election. None of them represent the working classes. I’ve actually got a letter from the council saying I’m not allowed to discuss my politics in their offices.
How has business been doing?
Oh, its dead! Because they messed up all the parking. That was the first thing they did when they started all this, there was a time in Deptford there was no way you could walk down the high street on a Saturday it was elbow to elbow. And then they started changing the rules and people cant get their license so it’s almost like they’re getting rid of the stalls they don’t want – but what they don’t realise is that the community that lives here, this is where we shop and they are being replaced by some bloke on a stall with 4 pieces of cake at £3 each.
The future of the high street?
The market is going to die. 200 years this market has been here and it’s dead now and they just systematically killed it – it’s such a shame. The same can be said for the shops, they are going for a completely different look on the high street which doesn’t include us. I reckon the markets probably got 20 years left, if that. It’s happening to all of them. East Street they’ve killed that, Greenwich now is nonsense – it’s all samey. It used to have junk stalls where you could find that something unique and interesting. Now everything is homogenized.
We’ve been open nearly a year now, the high street has changed quite a lot – I first moved here 8 years ago and the whole Market Yard area is really different – there been a lot of changes and I don’t know if it’s positive or negative - it’s that thing about gentrification when you are a part of it you can’t really say one way or another – it is what it is.
In the future I see it becoming more gentrified to be honest – the main thing I’ve noticed is house prices increasing from the outside inwards. I don’t really know what the counter action would be for that – what could be done to keep the cultures and communities that have been here for a very long time still being able to afford to stay here at the same time as being able to expand ever growing London. I’m not really sure how its going to end up.