Dressmakers, clothes shops, Smoothbean coffee and juice, and various Whitgift Centre changes
Openings
A new dressmakers called Paul & Lydia has opened at 51 St George’s Walk.
A new clothes shop has opened at 83 North End, where Unze used to be. There’s currently no name on the frontage, but the owner told us he’s thinking of calling it “Miss Selfie”.
There’s also another possibly-new clothes shop on North End: Love London Fashion at 135a North End has reopened, we suspect under different management from before. It’s not clear if it will be keeping the same name.
Totstars Academy, a new children’s sports centre, has opened at 41–42 Keeley Road (round the back of Centrale).
Two openings to report in the Whitgift Centre: Bags 4U, a new bag shop in Unit 144, Lower Level, and Spirit, a new clothes shop in Units 21–22, Sainsbury’s Square.
Smoothbean, the coffee and juice shop reported as “coming soon” in a previous update, is now open at 2–3 Dingwall Road, offering coffee, cakes, freshly-squeezed juice, and a small but daily-changing lunch menu.
Similarly, Croydon Express, the convenience store at 5 Crown Hill mentioned in our last update, has definitely now opened — a display of loom bands takes pride of place outside.
Closures
Uday News at 8 Norfolk House, Wellesley Road has closed.
We also have several closures to report from the Whitgift Centre, as it’s been quite a while since we did a full survey there (we usually pick up on new openings fairly quickly, but we often only note closures when we do a proper survey). Closures are: Bar Ispani (Unit 1045, Upper Trinity Court), Candy USA (Unit 93, Sainsbury’s Square), Graziella’s (Unit 80, East Arcade), My Home Choice (Unit 1104, Upper Mall), Notting Hill (Unit 25, The Mall), Tie Rack (Unit 158, East Arcade), USC (Units 117–118, West Arcade), Websters Pen Shop (Unit 1149, Upper West Arcade), Whitgift News (Unit 148, East Arcade).
Coming Soon
A new branch of Warren James jewellery shop will be opening at 10am today (Friday 25 July) at 121–123 North End.
A beauty salon called Angel Beauty Parlour is advertising itself as “opening soon” in the Whitgift Centre (Units 1021-1022, Upper Sainsbury’s Square).
Other news
Barratts at 30–32 North End has rebranded to Pavers.
Godstone Autos at 13–19 Derby Road has been replaced by Kwik Car Hire & Repair Centre.
London Visa has moved from 5 Norfolk House, Wellesley Road to the old Met Life building at 22 Addiscombe Road.
The Lansdowne Hotel restaurant has changed its name from Cotto e Mangiato to Buongiorno Burgers and now, unsurprisingly, specialises in burgers (though still with an Italian theme).