Fishmonger News
Or maybe it's Olds for some of you but it's certainly news for me. For months people have been finding some very erratic opening hours at the Trafalgar Road branch, including me and today, after making a special walk to get some fish (working on the "it's Friday morning - if a fish shop is going to be open any time it will be then" approach) and finding the shutters down again, I emailed the Fishmonger team to find out once and for all what's happening.
Emma replies:
"Unfortunately, we have had to close the Trafalgar Road shop. All of our business is now out of the Circus Street/Royal Hill branch. We are in the process of updating the web site with the new information and that should be working within a week or so. We are open in Circus Street from Tuesday to Friday 8.00 till 5.00 and on Saturday from 7.30 until 4.30. We are closed the day after a bank holiday as the inshore fishermen do not go to sea on a public holiday."
So - I've gone from being a grumpy Phantom to a sad Phantom. I guess it's good that we've at least got a fishmonger in Greenwich - but once again yet another good quality shop is over in the west, leaving the east with another closed storefront...
Emma replies:
"Unfortunately, we have had to close the Trafalgar Road shop. All of our business is now out of the Circus Street/Royal Hill branch. We are in the process of updating the web site with the new information and that should be working within a week or so. We are open in Circus Street from Tuesday to Friday 8.00 till 5.00 and on Saturday from 7.30 until 4.30. We are closed the day after a bank holiday as the inshore fishermen do not go to sea on a public holiday."
So - I've gone from being a grumpy Phantom to a sad Phantom. I guess it's good that we've at least got a fishmonger in Greenwich - but once again yet another good quality shop is over in the west, leaving the east with another closed storefront...
Labels: Fishmonger, Food and Drink, Shopping
posted by The Greenwich Phantom at
14:24
36 Comments:
I am gutted. Such a loss to east Greenwich. Its new location is just that bit too far for me to drop by quite so regularly.
I was on my way to Alacosta this lunch time and noticed that 'Greenwich Pantry' is now open. I had a peer through the window but it looked very bare with just a few jars on the shelves. I also popped into the Polish deli to pick up some dumplings for tea. What a little treasure trove and with a really friendly lady serving.
I see that the shop next to Zin noodle is having a big makeover. Maybe that will be something exciting to soften the blow of loosing the fishmongers?
On the subject of Zin Noodles, which we weren't really, a friend of mine raves (I mean really raves)about the sushi in there - claims it is the best in London, and he knows his sushi. In your review TGP, you steered away from it for understandable reasons. However, you may want to revisit seeing as he goes at least twice a week and has yet to have a bad experience...!
Hmmm. Interesting. Might well be worth another visit indeed.
Boo! I guess that means lovely fish on weekends only for me. And Ruth, I was curious too about the Greenwich Pantry, and finally went in last week. They had some nice things, but not really a lot on offer. Maybe they're starting off with a limited range, but here's hoping they'll bring more in to make another stop in future worth while. Maybe they could put long planters in the window and grow a selection of fresh herbs to lure us in post-train, pre-dinner...and of course then we'd also snap up other goodies. Aaaah, we can always dream...
i am a bit of a regular at Zin noodle. You can't beat it for a cheap and cheerful tea. But I wouldn't say their sushi is anything to rave about. Perfectly fine for the price, but not even as good as Ginza let alone the best in London. Or maybe i've just chosen badly. I prefer a nice plate of their spicy squid!
Well, there's a surprise. Call me cycnical, but I had a feeling that they only opened the East Greenwich shop to test the water with low rents, and intended all along to move to West Greenwich if they discovered a fishmonger was viable.
They've lost a customer here, that's for sure. I got fed up of going to the shop only to find it closed and having to change my plans. I have no intention of going to the Royal Hill store even if I'm going to Dring's/Creaky Shed. Sorry, but if you treat your original customers the way the Fishmonger has, you can't expect them to follow you.
I'm a fish junkie and would walk from West Greenwich three or four times a week. But I was the only person I knew who could be bothered to walk thru the park. I'd often see one person in the shop when I went in, rarely two. That was the economic reality they had to deal with. They made a miscalculation, seeing Theatre of Wine prosper on that site... but the business wasn't there. I presume getting an outlet in Circus St stopped them closing - how is that unfair to customers, Kirsty? If they've finally attracted more customers, and it keeps them going, good for them. They do a damn good job, and we should be grateful when we look at the generally pitiful shops in Greenwich, East or West.
And Phantom, I feel your pain. For I still hike over to Trafalgar Road to Theatre of Wine, and a bunch of Union Beers and a bottle of Muscadet weighs a damn sight more than a bag of mussels. But c'mon, is a walk over the park SO hard? All those Stone Age Celts, Romans and ELizabethans you're always writing about wouldn't have complained, would they??
No, indeed, Paul. And I shall continue to visit - the shop is very pretty too.
But I always like to have a moan about somewhere that used to be and is no more (unless it's the Powder Monkey.)
That fish shop was never going to work- it looked so unappealing! The fish counter was so far back you couldn't see anything from the street. It should have been in the window, or better still with an open frontage like the one in Nunhead. I realise there's a busy road and lots of pollution, but I think they could have dispayed better. The guy inside however wwas very polite and helpful.
Sorry I'm with Kirsty, it's been a pain in the arse going there only to find it closed with no explanation time and time again, I just gave up and started to go to See Woo. Their clams are fab.
@ Paul:
You seem to think that we are complaining about having to walk for an extra 6 minutes. You have completely misunderstood my post.
It's not the distance that puts me off - I happily walk to West Greenwich for Dring's, Creaky Shed, etc, and regularly walk/cycle past the end of the road. Indeed, had the Fishmonger opened in Royal Hill initially, I'd have welcomed it as enthusiastically as when it opened in Traf Rd. It's the attitude, and the experience I have had of being a customer (or not!) there. The fact that TGP had to email to find out they were closing says it all. The very least they could have done would have been to tape up a notice of revised opening hours and then a notice that they were closing. It's very frustrating to walk to the shop expecting it to be open and find it with the shutters down - after a while, you just don't bother.
I would imagine that part of the reason you've seen so few people in the shop is that on the last 3 occasions I went there for fish and actually found it open, they told me they didn't have the fish I was after and sent me to the Royal Hill shop, "which is fully stocked". A fishmonger that has no haddock, plaice or cod on a Friday morning is clearly not interested in doing business. Presumably I was not the only customer to have been sent over to Royal Hill.
It's no surprise, then, that the number of customers dwindled in Trafalgar Rd and increased in Royal Hill - the question is whether the Fishmonger drove the Traf Rd customer base away through erratic opening hours, a lack of stock and poor communication.
I don't think anybody has mentioned how expensive the fishmonger was.
Kirsty, I was mocking the Phantom for not ethereally floating across the park, not you. I was defending the shop, in that I know they didn't open at Trafalgar Road to test the water - it was rather that they thought trade would be far better in Trafalgar Road than was the case. Moving to Circus St was more of a last-ditch move, which has turned out well for them.
And while I seem to be their sole defender, I buy fish from See Woo (great for clams, indeed, and scallops), Steve Hatts, Berwick St, Borough MArket, etc and The Fishmonger's quality ranks with the best, and their prices are better than most.
It's obvious that their communication on the closing down of Trafalgar Rd has been poor. But I for one am grateful they're still around. (And still in mourning for Oddbins... there's no quest more doomed than that of finding decent booze at Bottoms Up)
Thanks Kirsty you've said exactly what I thought, not so much that we let them down but that we were force to go else where. As they live in East Greenwich and have a very long lease on that shop, why give up on it?
Sam
just a quicky, can non trade customers go to see woo?
I find it hard to believe that anyone would go to the effort of kitting out a shop just so they could move elsewhere. Theatre of Wine do well there, I think they genuinely thought that they could contribute to a renaissance in Trafalgar Road. Perhaps we weren't ready for it.
And yes - they have the lease - but there are all manner of other things you have to pay for - double amounts of stock, for starters, and let's face it, fish doesn't last long in this weather.Double staff, double shop running costs.
I'm sad they've gone. Very sad as I think it says something I don't want to hear about East Greenwich, but I can't blame them. A bit of communication would have been helpful - there must have been quite a lot of wasted journeys, but I really don't think I can level any kind of calculated approach at them I shall continue to go there. Just not as often as before.
Yes ruth, non-trade customers can go to See Woo - my dad has been when he's been up to visit :)
http://www.seewoo.com/x/greenwich.html
Interesting! I come to Greenwich from Deptford side, so I've only ever seen the Royal Hill shop. I was really excited when it opened and bought a sea bass for £10. I wish I could be a regular customer there, but I can't really afford it. Nice to know it's there, though.
Sarah! Why go to Greenwich for fish if you live on the Deptford side! Don't you know that Deptford high st has three wet fish shops and several more shops that sell fresh fish too!
I don't think all the blame should be put on East Greenwich in this debacle at all.
The fishmongers were rarely open, clearly not dedicated to making their business work in the area and have now decided to decamp to where the money is in West Greenwich. How predictable.
This is not a loss that will be mourned. The only annoying thing for locals such as myself is that we have to look at their closed shutter, when Theatre of Wine and yes, even the Kebab Shop make an effort to at least be open and community spirited.
I'll miss 'em.
Greenwich Lalas-
While I'm all for community-spirited shops, they're not charities.
In that respect it seems harsh to blame them and say "good riddance," without also acknowledging that there wasn't sufficient demand for their wares in East Greenwich.
It reminds me of a comment TGP made about the Henry Moore in the Park.
What a bizarre comment, lalas, they were there, open five days a week for, what, six months? Certainly right through the summer. I'm guessing they made a big loss on running the Trafalgar road shop - how kind of you to hold a grudge against them for it!
Congratulations, Phantom - the abundance of comments illustrates your new knack for identifying all the hot issues of our time: schools, estate agents, and fish shops!
I don't know whether to be flattered or just cry, Paul...
Another closed down shop front on Trafalagar Road, thanks for that Fishmonger.
To be fair, it was a closed storefront before they opened. They had a go and I admire them for it. It's sad they've had to move - but there's no point being bitter, Anon. If we pillory people when they fail, perhaps they won't try in the first place. And we need people who will try. Who are prepared to stick their heads above the parapet. I know I couldn't do it myself.
We're going into tough times now. We need to see where we can go from here.
Just what the original reason was for opening the Royal Hill branch I don't know. But I suspect most of the original customers at the East Greenwich shop came from West Greenwich anyway, and this became starkly apparent when the new shop opened.
I would imagine there's a much greater population within, say 0.5 miles of the East Greenwich branch than of the Royal Hill one but obviously there just wasn't the demand from the immediate locality.
There must be - what - 10,000? people living within half a mile of the original shop. All it would have needed was for 10% of these to eat fresh fish once a week and the shop would have been heaving.
I wonder also whether the opening of the new M&S at the petrol station was a factor - I can't remember whather they sell fish but I don't suppose it can have helped.
Greenwich lalas you couldn't be further from the truth with such hurtful comments and have clearly never been close the the running of a retail business. If giving up your careers, working 20 hour days, getting up at 3.30am every day to select the best fish, opening 5 days a week for months on end and ploughing your savings into a business isn't dedication then your definition is somewhat different from mine.
The Fishmonger was a great addition to East Greenwich and the simple fact is that not enough of us shopped there often enough to make it an option long term. We failed them rather than the other way round. We should all be celebrating the fact that we still have a decent fish shop in Greenwich and grateful that the experience on Trafalgar road has not dampened Julian's enthusiam for creating one of very few quality shops in Greenwich.
The only community role a shop or any other business should engage in is the maximisation if profits. The shop on the Trafalgar Rd was always empty where as the one on Royal Hill is thriving.
I wouldnt say it an East Greenwich / West Greenwich thing either. Royal Hill enjoys great economies of scale for a food retailer plus parking is easier. The Trafalgar Rd is always clogged with traffic and parking is impossible.
When they first opened I asked them if the hours would be worked around the fact that aLOT of people leave east greenwich for work and a roaring trade would be done if they could find a way to be open until 7 or 7.30pm for the commuters off the train, a lot of fish recipes are very quick to prepare so it's the original fast food. Yes I know that someone would have to be up a 2am to actually buy the fish but to make a shop work today you need to be open when the custom is there. Anyway I got a yes to my question but with in a couple of months the shop closed at 5pm and that was that. The only trade left were mothers or people who work in east greenwich, I think the commuters have more money to spend. What a waste of their time and money, anyone can see it was their pointless opening hours that killed them off, but it was also their laziness in not trying.
I wonder if there would be this many comments if the kebab shop next door to the fishmongers closed down? Hmm.
Jack, maybe I worded my comment incorrectly and for that I apologise. I am sure that the owners of the shop are very dedicated to what they do. However, they did, in my opinion, lose interest in East Greenwich as soon as they realised they could make bigger money in West Greenwich. So they were, as I said previously, not dedicated to making it work "in the area."
They then basically left the shop as a storage unit, leaving East Greenwich residents (not just those who travel to the East side to buy fish) with another closed down shop.
At the times I did see it open, it wasn't exactly bursting full of customers, so I'm not entirely sure why there's so many "I'll really miss it" style comments.
Anyway, I did not say "good riddance", I just said I will not miss it, which is true. I also know of many other East Greenwich residents and business people that feel the same way. I wish them the best in their new premises.
I see the shop everyday, so it would be nice to see a thriving business in there, in the manner of Theatre of Wine.
There's a strange kind of bitterness about this, as in "they could make bigger money in West Greenwich". They weren't making ANY money in East Greenwich! If they'd stayed in Trafalgar Road, and hence closed down completely, would that make you happier?
I personally am sad they didn't make it in Trafalgar Road; their manager SImon was a real expert, and I'll miss him - he was, I believe, running the wholesale business they've had to close down. I know he and the owner worked damn hard. If I were either of them, this bizarre outbreak of schadenfreude would make me glad I'd moved on.
Q:Where can I buy the best book ever written on fish or possibly on any other subject?
A:The Fishmonger Ltd
Q:Who said this?
A:Auberon Waugh
Q:Does it matter that I have to walk a little further to obtain it?
A:Not to me
Q:What is signora Viscardi's first name?
A:The answer is to be found in Alan Davidson's Mediterranean Seafood now in its umpteenth printing since 1972.
Q:Why am I asking these Q's
A:Because the answers and all the secrets in the successful cooking of fish are to be found at The Fishmonger Ltd at a location close to you.
I am not sure I understand fully their business model!
I work nearby Circus St. and sometimes shop at the creaky shed or butcher.
But not as often as I could... Reason is simply that they ALL close way too early.
I mean 5PM, how many people can do their shopping before 5PM??
Every evening, I leave work and see dozens of people walking home from the train/dlr stations past these shops and those people are I believe potential customers. No?
In the morning, on the way to work, anytime between 8 and 9AM, thses shops are opened, but very empty. Wouldn't it make more business sense to open an hour later and close an hour later??
In my office, we are 3 people and we all 3 agree on their loss of our business.
Before you ask, yes we could shop during the day, but we have no fridge to keep the meat/fish....
Go figure huh!
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home