Independent traders fear for their future in Muswell Hill. Picture: Tony Gay
Independent Muswell Hill traders fear for future
by Flora Drury
Friday, July 20, 2012
7:00 AM
»The young owner of a Muswell Hill cheese shop celebrating its 30th anniversary fears it will not last another three decades after a slew of retail chains recently arrived in the area.
Morgan McGlynn, who bought Cheese in Fortis Green Road a year ago, is worried that her business and other independents in the area will be forced out by rising rents as landlords realise they can push their prices up as more and more high-street brands set up shop in Muswell Hill.
‘Cute little shops’
Ms McGlynn, 25, said: “It is really upsetting. We have really cute little shops here in Muswell Hill and they have all been here 25, 28 years – we are the oldest. We are having a real problem because so many chains are opening. As soon as they come in, they put the rents up and so push us out. “
As Laura Kay of Tomfoolery Jewellers, also in Fortis Green Road, points out, this development may not be in the best interest of Muswell Hill’s thriving high street.
“I think Muswell Hill is known for its independents. We have such a good customer base here, I feel like it is because of our customers we are still going.
“That’s what the landlords are forgetting – we have customers who want something a bit different.”
Ms Kay acknowledges, however, that some people will choose to shop in the chain stores rather than the independents because of the “price-point” difference.
It means the independents need to offer something which the brands can’t – a unique and personalised service.
For Ms McGlynn, that comes in the form of tempting her customers with selections of cheese outside on warmer days and offering “huge” boards of tasters at the weekend so people can sample some of her wares, sourced directly from the farms where they are made – all of which she has visited or is planning to visit.
And that is something you can’t say for the man behind the cheese counter in the local supermarket.
n Visit www.cheesesonline.co.uk for more information.
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