A new juice shop on London Road, opening of the Croydon Arts Store, and closure of Piccolino’s and Caribsoul
Openings
A juice bar and cafe called Snake & Mongoose has opened at 36 London Road. Juices are made fresh to order, with ingredients including all the usual fruit and vegetables as well as more unusual ones such as callaloo, okra, butternut squash, and even peas.
An art hub, Croydon Arts Store, has opened at 46–47/1046–1048 Whitgift Centre.
Three new shops have opened in the rebuilt part of Royal Parade: Abarna Silks, Abarna Beauty World, and Close Up Photographie at numbers 268, 270, and 272, respectively. Work has also begun on rebuilding more of the parade.
A new butchers has opened at 21–23 Church Street. It was originally called Khan Halal Meat but has now rebranded to The Black Butchers.
Turkish restaurant Atesh is finally open at 235–241 High Street (the old location of Anna’s). Other food-related openings are Five Guys at 7–11 High Street, Blue Sea Fish & Chips Bar at 92 High Street, and yet another branch of Caffe Nero at East Croydon Station (bringing George Street’s total to three).
A clothes shop called LN Creations has opened at 111a High Street, the branch of Wallis at 103 Whitgift Centre has been replaced by a discount clothes shop called Capri Light, a hairdressers called Radiant London has opened at 277 High Street, and a tattoo studio called Just Ink About It has opened at 10 Ye Market, Selsdon Road.
The old premises of Millets at 50–54 High Street have been taken over by a Forces Support charity shop, and another charity shop called Alice’s Attic has opened just across the road at 49–51 High Street. An estate agent called Prime Relocate has opened at 131 South End.
Yet another vape shop, Vapepit, has opened at 78c Frith Road. Does Croydon have enough vape shops now, or are there more to come?
Closures
Piccolino’s Snack Bar at 8 St George’s Walk has closed, as has Caribsoul at 46 George Street.
Muncho has closed its cafe at 22–24 St George’s Walk, though the company still does office food delivery.
The Edge at 1 South End has closed, but is being refurbished to open under new management.
Other closures are Choice at 98–99 Whitgift Centre, Sapphire at 29 Whitgift Centre, Bijou Brigitte at 35 Whitgift Centre, Millimetre at 7–9 Crown Hill, Stan James at 8 Crown Hill, Speedy Cash at 175 North End, and Fast Track at 250 High Street.
Coming soon
A new Nigerian restaurant called Lagos Island is due to open today (Friday 6 October) at 41 St George’s Walk.
Pizza Ora at 63–65 High Street has closed, but according to a licensing application in the window is due to be replaced by The Ludoquist board games cafe.
Niazi Food House is due to open “soon” at 5 Derby Road, though this has been in the works for quite a while now, so it’s not clear what “soon” actually means.
Other news
Various businesses have relaunched under new names: Buffalo American Bar & Grill at 91–101 High Street is now The Big Eat, Back To Health at 1a Drummond Road is now Better Balance Clinic, Rush Advanced Academy at 73 North End is now the London Hairdressing Apprenticeship Academy, and Ambala at 250 London Road has changed its name to Alees, due to the end of its franchising agreement with the Ambala sweet company.
Finally, Cartridge World at 20 Park Street has moved to 194 Brighton Road, CR2 6AF and changed its name to County Cartridges, and ABM Electrical And Lighting has moved from 63 London Road to Unit 1, Coomber Way Industrial Estate, CR0 4TQ.