Second Pret arrives at expense of independent shop

The Olympic bakery in Camden High Street

IT was responsible for filling the High Street with the comforting waft of freshly cooked bread – but one of Camden Town’s last independent shops closed its oven doors for the last time on Sunday.
The Olympic, in Camden High Street, will re-open in March as a branch of Pret a Manger, the multi-national sandwich chain part owned by McDonald’s – prompting conservation groups and councillors to lament the loss of another independent trader.
Owners George and Litsu Christou have run the shop for 21 years, but say the seven-days-a-week lifestyle and increased parking restrictions mean they can no longer keep the place going.
Mr Christou, who also runs Little Bakers near Delancey Street, Camden Town, said: “The Starbucks, the Neros and the Costas never managed to make the bakery suffer business-wise.
“We are more popular, but competition is stiff. Customers have said to me they hope it’s not going to be one of those high street big boys coming in.” The Camden Town Conservation Area Advisory Committee (CAAC) sees the closure as another nail in the coffin of the High Street, while Labour ward councillor Jake Sumner has urged shoppers to boycott chain stores. CAAC chairwoman Jayne Mitchell said: “The arrival of this second outlet for Pret a Manger, less than 500 yards from their other outlet near M&S, not only deprives residents of a high-class bakery but also significantly contributes to the growing homogeneity of the High Street.”
She added: “Do we need two Pret a Manger, two Starbucks, two Café Nero as well as the proliferation of other chains?
“We are concerned that if this type of development continues unabated then the essence of Camden, with its eclectic collection of shops, will be increasingly diluted, leaving us with the same blandness found in high streets throughout the UK.”
Camden Civic Society chairman Michael Morton – whose committee monitors planning issues – has been noting the loss of small traders throughout the borough for years.
He said: “It’s economies of scale. The chains buy big, and supermarkets selling their own bread have a large advantage.”
Cllr Sumner said there was little the council could do about the loss of independent shops.
He added: “It’s tricky. If private landlords demand high rents then smaller shops wither.
“But we can all help – use your local shopkeepers.”
But Pret’s managing director Julian Metcalf told the New Journal the new shop was a franchise – and therefore essentially a small business. He added that the shop was needed because the other Camden branch lacked space for seating.
He said: “It has nothing to do with buying power. Our food is made on the premises so we do not buy in bulk. Pret has nothing to do with the rents landlords charge. If shops are popular, they stay open.”