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| The Old Laundry Yard at Lunchtime a week ago |
It's a real shame, as it was a potentially promising space for outdoor eating, but it seems not to have found an audience.
I had lunch there in June, and even at noon - in theory a busy time - my friend and I were the only customers, with only two stalls were open for business.
The Old Laundry Yard was intended to have been the temporary home for the market traders, while the Market itself was being redeveloped. Since then, the space has sat empty, so the new venture offered a chance to make good use of idle real estate.
It's not obvious why it has failed. After all, an oddity like Pergola on the Roof on Wood lane (lunch on top of a disused BBC car park, anyone?) was a barnstorming success, packed out with hipsters and assorted Millennials every night. Pergola has since closed, perhaps due to planning restrictions - many locals in Macfarlane Rd hated the noise and disturbance.
Pergola is a good example of how successful these things can be when they are done right. Old Laundry yard should surely have been a local success story, and a sensible use of a derelict site. What a shame for us all that it has failed.
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I'm not surprised it failed: Pergola had the benefit of being close to both White City and Wood Lane stations, as well as being high up above the mean streets of the Bush. People who went there felt a sense of privilege and exclusivity. The old laundry yard is a side-project of a market that, outside of Bush residents, doesn't have a "hipster" or tourist appeal (like Borough, Camden, Spitalfields, Portobello Road etc.). I think a better strategy would be to make a more area-appropriate extension of the market - make the old laundry yard the "food bit" of the market, encourage existing food stalls to move there and local restaurants (Hoja, Flamingo etc.) to run a weekend spot there. Offer food at locally-acceptable prices (not at "aspirational" prices). If it's good, it will build at following, gain a reputation and attract more people in. That would then impact on the rest of the market.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone can insert a slice of "trendy" London into Shepherds Bush and expect it to succeed - unless it has the "gated community" set up that Pergola had.
Interesting thoughts!
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