BXAG asks: what new businesses do you want for Brockley Road?

The Brockley Cross Action Group (BXAG) is carrying out a local consultation to try to assess the state of local demand for new shops and services in the area. This exercise is intended to influence the redevelopment of 180 Brockley Road, which will include significant new commercial space at ground level, helping to create a more coherent high street.

At present, the developers say that they are open to ideas about how the ground level should be configured (the units could be bigger or smaller, depending on what they think could work) and have expressed reservations about the idea of a supermarket being located at that site, as the frequent lorry deliveries required would lower the value of the residential properties above.

The BXAG have audited the stock of local businesses already located around Brockley Station, creating an interesting little list:

On Brockley Road: 1 cafe, 1 bookmakers, 1 pub, 1 launderette, 1 general store (Sounds Around), 1 gift shop, 1 supermarket, 1 Chinese takeway, 1 greasy spoon cafe, 1 void (was La Taverna), 1 kebab shop,  1 nightclub (Gulens), 1 nail bar, 1 Indian restaurant, 1 second-hand furniture store, 1 estate agent, 1 bakery (Doorstep), 1 second-hand machinery shop.
On Coulgate Street: 2 coffee shops,1 French Deli, 1 Jamaican takeway, 1 Vietnamese takeway and restaurant.
On Harefield Road: 1 bar / restaurant, 1 chip shop, 1 hairdressers, 1 estate agent
They plan to present the results to the developers and send them to local trade associations and commercial agents.

The "second hand furniture store" is currently being replaced by a "children's accessories" shop and we think it's an oversight not to include the shops in the parade on the west side of the tracks:

On Mantle Road: 1 hairdresser, 1 print service shop, 1 supermarket.

So please help them with their gap analysis. We've previously suggested that we think the following would have a decent chance at this location:

A florist
A grocer / fresh produce shop
A bakery (one that bakes its own bread, rather than sells white rolls out of a van - not that there's anything wrong with white rolls, but there is more to the world of bread than them)
Another gift shop (we anticipate that the new children's shop may double as a gift shop though)
A fishmonger
A butcher

But as we've said before, we think the businesses that have the biggest chance of success at this location would be restaurants and bars (and a beauty salon / treatment centre, for that matter), where local supply clearly does not match local demand. These businesses would also encourage the development of Brockley as a destination, supporting all the other retail in the area. It would be a bad mistake not to include some space for leisure as well as retail, in our view.

Please share your thoughts - we'll make sure they are passed on to BXAG.