Old charity shop on Tollington Park

Danny

Hey all,

Does anybody know who owns the old charity shop thats been closed for a few months on Tollington Park (next to the hairdressers)

I'd really like to turn it into a funky mens clothing store!

Cheers peeps

andy

(I'm loving this, because it looks like i have local knowledge. Unfortunately, this is the only single morsel of knowledge that i have) Last I heard, that shop has been rented to the Front Room Cafe next door, see the link below. I think they are currently sorting out planning. <http://www.stroudgreen.org/comments.php?DiscussionID=118&page=1#Item_6>; There's another empty shop along from there though?

Danny

Cheers

The other empty place (old H&B Social club) is under offer at the Mo',

i have been onto the council about number 20 Charter Court though, but their gettin back to me.

Lucy

we need all the funky clothing stores we can get - if we could just get Leila to move down from Crouch End for us girls...

David

But a men's store? I'd welcome it, but not sure it's got passing trade for that?

Danny

The store would play to the area's strenghts, i'll have fresh new up and coming urban labels for example (www.idlejoe.co.uk ), and allow young designers to showcase their warez, with some classic brands (old skool adidas, levi, diesel, abercrombie & fitch) laced with some cutting edge threads (LRG, ED Hardy) and maybe some hip hop influence (a bathing ape, Billionaires Boys Club, Evisu)

Pushing these brands at sensible prices will sell, of course i'm open to your suggestions....

David

Sounds great to me. But do me a favour and stock waist 34-36 - I seem to have literally out-grown Covent Garden.

andy

Sounds like a good idea. There are a couple of shops like that in Crouch End (just past Banners) and nothing like it round our way. I'd worry whether there's enough passing trade though. Unless you want a wig or a cows foot, there aren't many great retail options.It's cafes, pubs and restaurants all the way.

Kelly-Marie

Hey Danny,
Any more news on the store idea?..If not pop you could pop in to Chaps and Dames with some examples of your stock,We are always on the look out for quality mens wear/Vintage stock.

andy

Given that his last post was in 2006, I guess nothing became of it.

rainbow_carnage

Why aren't there any good clothing shops in SG? No book or record shops, either. I'm not counting the stores on Fonthill Road. In the seven years that we've lived here, I've gone into two of them and do not wish to repeat that experience. I've yet to go into Utopia, for obvious reasons. Is there no market for clothing here? Everyone has to get their threads somewhere. I'd quite like a nice vintage/secondhand shop that sells clothes, books, records, maybe even coffee. A step or two up from a charity shop.

ADGS

There are a couple of secondhand book shops down Blackstock (although it might have stopped being Blackstock by that point, I forget where the name changes). They're the infuriating sort which I think of as quite good mainly because they have lots of books I already own.

Arkady

There's always New Beacon Books on SGR! It appears to be almost entirely dedicated to African, Afro-Caribbean and African-American affairs, and when I popped in last month to get a card one of the other customers said something to the affect of 'it must be christmas, lots of white people in at the moment'. I don't believe she meant this to be audible.

Arky

miss annie

I imagine she definitely didn't!

On the subject of books, does anyone use the library in Blackstock Road? I usually go to the library in Manor Gardens but Blackstock would be nearer if it comes recommended.

Arkady

What's wrong with Stroud Green library?

miss annie

I'm sure it's delightful, I was trying to work out which is the nearest one. I live on Moray Road and I like nipping in to the library after work to choose books for the week.

Arkady

Ah, makes sense.

Is Moray Rd in Stroud Green? ;-)

miss annie

I think my bit is...... 'tis a very long road ;-)

checkski

I live in Moray Road too, at the Charteris Road end, on the east side of Fonthill Rd, and so I definitely consider myself a Stroud Greener.

The best library by far is the Hornsey Lib, one of Haringey's, and far better than anything Islington has to offer (I belong to both). Hornsey has an excellent staff, who will get you anything you want; there is a v comfortable newspaper and mag section; loads of computers; and a good electronic piano keyboard, that you can practise on, with headphones, natch.

Behind the old Hornsey Town Hall, in case anyone's interested. Oh, and there's also a cafe upstairs, but it's not very comfortable, and the last coffee I had there was not good, and not cheap.

sophie

i like the coffee in the hornsey library and the lady who makes it is very sweet. i like the little gallery bit in hornsey library as well. as for N4 library (blackstock road), every time i've been looking for a book on the online catalogue, they've had it, but i've never actually been in there. so, er, it's probably alright. definitely closer to moray road than hornsey library, but there's no bus, and it's a much less pleasant walk.

ADGS

N4 library used to be better when they had the upstairs as well, before it became some kind of course space and the SF section got gutted. Still good for comics collections, though. And it helps that Islington libraries have free reservations, so you can check the catalogue online and pick up anything they have in any branch from Blackstock Road. Or just walk there, of course, if time allows.

North, on Manor Gardens, has a better selection in general and a nice, slightly cultish slant to the holdings. But it does also seem more prone to attracting smelly people. Best in summer when they sometimes open up the little garden and a cat comes in.

Stroud Green library is a lovely little building and a very soothing environment but the collection seems to be a bit too slender - about the only thing I ever end up borrowing from there is PG Wodehouse, of whom they do have a very good choice.

Hornsey Library has the same frustrating thing as those bookshops I mentioned before, I'll look up an author I like and they'll only have the books I own/have already read by them.

miss annie

@ADGS
I like the North library but yes, there are some niffy folks in there! All libraries should have a cat though, it's a nice feature.

Thank you all for the information. I'm going to try Hornsey library first I think the idea of an electric piano and a nice lady making coffee is too quaint to be missed. Do they have a cat too?

ADGS

Not that I've ever seen, but they do have a peculiar fountain (outdoors, that is - though one of the further-flung Haringey libraries is in the same building as a swimming pool).