Anyone know if this was a sainsbury's?
They used to look like this:
The shop in question is this:
SAINSBURY'S IN SYDENHAM ROAD?
SAINSBURY'S IN SYDENHAM ROAD?
And act of god managed to rip one of the many awful signs from a shopfront in Sydenham road revealing what looks like an old Sainbury's sign.
Anyone know if this was a sainsbury's?
They used to look like this:
The shop in question is this:
Anyone know if this was a sainsbury's?
They used to look like this:
The shop in question is this:
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Steve Grindlay
- Posts: 606
- Joined: 4 Oct 2004 05:07
- Location: Upper Sydenham
I think that there is another photo of Sainsburys on Sydenham Road in one of the books of old photos that you can buy at Kirkdale bookshop.
There is also that Sainsburys mosaic tile floor at the entrance to a charity shop opposite Forest Hill station (I think its the Red Cross shop) - nice to see that it has remained.
There is also that Sainsburys mosaic tile floor at the entrance to a charity shop opposite Forest Hill station (I think its the Red Cross shop) - nice to see that it has remained.
Sainsburys shop
We lived off Newlands Park from 1963-1974 and the shop was till there when we left. It was all separate counters then with bacon/cold meats on one side and cheese/dairy on the other. All the food sat on huge white marble slabs with curved plastic covers over the whole counter. It was not a supermarket, you had to queue at each counter separately for your goods. My mother would put me in the Cheese queue while she joined the Ham queue and she would then run over and join me once the ham was bought & paid for. (Can you see people today being that patient & queuing 3 times ?!)
They had a few tinned goods and eggs etc at the very back which had an ornate wooden screen into an office. The smell in the store was fantastic. Until the Wallis, Safeway & Co-op supermarkets opened it was the biggest food store in the road & always very busy.
Was shocked when I went back a few years ago and saw it was Wallpaper/DIY shop.
Malcolm
They had a few tinned goods and eggs etc at the very back which had an ornate wooden screen into an office. The smell in the store was fantastic. Until the Wallis, Safeway & Co-op supermarkets opened it was the biggest food store in the road & always very busy.
Was shocked when I went back a few years ago and saw it was Wallpaper/DIY shop.
Malcolm
Sainsbury's pioneered the modern day 'all under one roof' supermarket and then after Tesco started the whole 'out of town' supermarkets in the 1980's.
I think there is a gap to be filled by looking to the past.
It's interesting that Forest Hill had two Sainbury's side by side. I've said this before that if you had a row of shops that complimented each other, that offered personal service, personal expertise and were attractive, high streets could really compete with the larger supermarkets.
The problem is that generally high street is that shops copy what other shops are doing. That why there are so many pound shops, betting shops, chicken takeaways, hairdressers etc. In football the whole team doesn't run after the ball, there is strategy and shape, people have set positions. The high street needs someone to develop a strategy for the high street along similar lines.
A supermarket is just a high street under one roof, a high street is just a supermarket under many roofs.
For Sydenham high street to survive and prosper it needs to attract more people to the area as a destination, and the shops need to convert footfall into sales. To do that we need a strategy, better advice and guidelines for shop keepers, stronger incentives to attract the right sort of businesses here so we have a diverse, attractive, exciting, high street full of businesses for all.
From the B&W picture above, that's how it used to be. It should and could be again.
I think there is a gap to be filled by looking to the past.
It's interesting that Forest Hill had two Sainbury's side by side. I've said this before that if you had a row of shops that complimented each other, that offered personal service, personal expertise and were attractive, high streets could really compete with the larger supermarkets.
The problem is that generally high street is that shops copy what other shops are doing. That why there are so many pound shops, betting shops, chicken takeaways, hairdressers etc. In football the whole team doesn't run after the ball, there is strategy and shape, people have set positions. The high street needs someone to develop a strategy for the high street along similar lines.
A supermarket is just a high street under one roof, a high street is just a supermarket under many roofs.
For Sydenham high street to survive and prosper it needs to attract more people to the area as a destination, and the shops need to convert footfall into sales. To do that we need a strategy, better advice and guidelines for shop keepers, stronger incentives to attract the right sort of businesses here so we have a diverse, attractive, exciting, high street full of businesses for all.
From the B&W picture above, that's how it used to be. It should and could be again.
sainsbury's in sydenham road?
I have just been reading the various posts on Sainsbury’s in Sydenham Road with interest as I well remember the store as described by Malcolm, my family were registered with them during WW2 for our rationed goods and as described, there were two long counters, one either side of the store and sectioned off for the various commodities. The office that was screened at the far end housed the cashier where one paid the bill the whole establishment was kept immaculate with the emphasis on cleanliness. The tiled floor was conspicuous by the absence of sawdust which covered most food stores in those days.
It should be remembered that most food stores, with the exception of grocers, were open fronted with the goods, fish, meat and vegetables all displayed to the elements. In those days horse drawn vehicles were very evident and I leave it to the reader’s imagination to appreciate the results. This was in the days before refrigerators and few stores had cold rooms, hence the customary sale off of perishable goods on a Saturday evening and the reason why butchers and fishmongers remained closed on Mondays.
Sydenham Road, as it was once called, was a first class shopping centre, one could purchase about any item one would need without having to visit neighbouring centres, such as Catford or Penge, which gave an excuse to have a change of view and a bus ride, only to find the same collection of stores with perhaps the exception of visiting such chain stores as Burtons, the Fifty shilling Tailors, Marks and Spencer’s or Woolworths, They were not to be found in Sydenham. It was after WW2 that Woolworth came to Sydenham and then with only a small branch.
Sydenham Road was filled with elegant shops and one thing that stands out in my memory was that almost every shop had two or three high seated chairs for the elderly to rest their weary legs whilst being served. There were NO queues! This was an invention brought about by the shortage of goods in the shops during the war and spread very rapidly to every other service provider. I remember how difficult it was for me, as a small boy, being sent out to purchase fish & chips as the counters in most of these shops were very high to conceal the wrapping of the purchase in newspaper. I would be lost in the crowd, all pressing forwards to be served and I was very curious to see what was hidden from my view!
Returning to Sainsbury’s, the Sydenham Road premises were identified by a square pointed tower on top of the ornate frontage of the building...
Recently. I have been fascinated by the Google street view and have been touring around Sydenham exploring the areas that were known to me in my younger days. (I am 89 and left Sydenham in 1961).
I have been amazed at the changes to the town, some to the good but many, I am afraid to say, for the worst. Gone have so many elegant houses that had survived the Blitz and been replaced by what look like barrack blocks or prison blocks. The facades of the shops have been completely spoiled and as for the traffic, I cringe when I think that as a kid, I played in the streets as the other kids did and I cycled, safely, for miles around the area out into Kent and beyond. The nearest set of traffic lights was situated at the Pawlene Arms junction in Penge.
I have bee scanning down each side of Sydenham Road trying to identify which shops occupied the ones of today, with success in many cases but there are some that I cannot remember and I wonder if any one out there has a “Kelly’s street directory” of the road for say 1938/9 or 1946/7?. It would d be interesting to re-identify the shops. I can identify quite a large number.
It would be an interesting project to produce a “Sydenham Now & Then” Document.
It should be remembered that most food stores, with the exception of grocers, were open fronted with the goods, fish, meat and vegetables all displayed to the elements. In those days horse drawn vehicles were very evident and I leave it to the reader’s imagination to appreciate the results. This was in the days before refrigerators and few stores had cold rooms, hence the customary sale off of perishable goods on a Saturday evening and the reason why butchers and fishmongers remained closed on Mondays.
Sydenham Road, as it was once called, was a first class shopping centre, one could purchase about any item one would need without having to visit neighbouring centres, such as Catford or Penge, which gave an excuse to have a change of view and a bus ride, only to find the same collection of stores with perhaps the exception of visiting such chain stores as Burtons, the Fifty shilling Tailors, Marks and Spencer’s or Woolworths, They were not to be found in Sydenham. It was after WW2 that Woolworth came to Sydenham and then with only a small branch.
Sydenham Road was filled with elegant shops and one thing that stands out in my memory was that almost every shop had two or three high seated chairs for the elderly to rest their weary legs whilst being served. There were NO queues! This was an invention brought about by the shortage of goods in the shops during the war and spread very rapidly to every other service provider. I remember how difficult it was for me, as a small boy, being sent out to purchase fish & chips as the counters in most of these shops were very high to conceal the wrapping of the purchase in newspaper. I would be lost in the crowd, all pressing forwards to be served and I was very curious to see what was hidden from my view!
Returning to Sainsbury’s, the Sydenham Road premises were identified by a square pointed tower on top of the ornate frontage of the building...
Recently. I have been fascinated by the Google street view and have been touring around Sydenham exploring the areas that were known to me in my younger days. (I am 89 and left Sydenham in 1961).
I have been amazed at the changes to the town, some to the good but many, I am afraid to say, for the worst. Gone have so many elegant houses that had survived the Blitz and been replaced by what look like barrack blocks or prison blocks. The facades of the shops have been completely spoiled and as for the traffic, I cringe when I think that as a kid, I played in the streets as the other kids did and I cycled, safely, for miles around the area out into Kent and beyond. The nearest set of traffic lights was situated at the Pawlene Arms junction in Penge.
I have bee scanning down each side of Sydenham Road trying to identify which shops occupied the ones of today, with success in many cases but there are some that I cannot remember and I wonder if any one out there has a “Kelly’s street directory” of the road for say 1938/9 or 1946/7?. It would d be interesting to re-identify the shops. I can identify quite a large number.
It would be an interesting project to produce a “Sydenham Now & Then” Document.
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Steve Grindlay
- Posts: 606
- Joined: 4 Oct 2004 05:07
- Location: Upper Sydenham
Your wish, Reg...regoneil wrote:...I wonder if any one out there has a “Kelly’s street directory” of the road for say 1938/9... It would be interesting to re-identify the shops...
I've opened a new topic, "Sydenham Road Now and Then" with extracts from Kelly's 1939 directory as a starting point.
There is a Kellys directory for that year and many others in the Lewisham Public Library , Local History Section ,on the top floor.
I recall Sainsbury Sydenham well. In 50's seem to recall going with my mother and they had groceries on two sides and you had to go to the end to pay.
Mum used to also use a small grocer called Mr Finch roughly where the nabourhood centre is now.
I recall Sainsbury Sydenham well. In 50's seem to recall going with my mother and they had groceries on two sides and you had to go to the end to pay.
Mum used to also use a small grocer called Mr Finch roughly where the nabourhood centre is now.
There also used to be
a great supermarket called Wallis' next door to The Golden Lion for many years, as well as the Sainsbury's then the Safeway came after the pictures were demolished. The highlight of the week was going up the hill to the Wimpy for a friday night out -
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victoria plum
- Posts: 8
- Joined: 6 Oct 2006 21:28
- Location: selondon
As a small child in the 1950s I well remember the old Sainsbury's in Sydenham Road. I was taken in in my pram and, later on, walking next to my mum. We had to queue at different counters for cheese, bacon, etc, and the ladies who served us wore white turbans. I always hated the cheesey/bacony smell of Sainsbury's in those days, I don't know why 
.
I also remember a shop quite close to Sainsbury's where really good coffee was sold. A lovely aroma used to waft out from there.
.I also remember a shop quite close to Sainsbury's where really good coffee was sold. A lovely aroma used to waft out from there.
I used to go shopping at Sydenham Sainsbury’s with my Nan. I seem to remember the queue moving up one side of the shop and down the other.
Two things stand out in my mind. Watching the cheese being cut with a wire and wrapped in white paper. Also the delicious square-shaped fruit pies they used to sell.
Two things stand out in my mind. Watching the cheese being cut with a wire and wrapped in white paper. Also the delicious square-shaped fruit pies they used to sell.
I remember the Sydenham Sainsbury's from the 1960s - very traditional.
I also remember being very impressed when the first 'supermarket' opened in Sydenham - Victor Values, on the same side of the High Street as Sainsbury's but closer to the railway bridge. This was called a 'supermarket' as it was the first shop where the customer took a wire handbasket and selected their goods from the shelves before paying for everything at one till.
Very American!
I also remember being very impressed when the first 'supermarket' opened in Sydenham - Victor Values, on the same side of the High Street as Sainsbury's but closer to the railway bridge. This was called a 'supermarket' as it was the first shop where the customer took a wire handbasket and selected their goods from the shelves before paying for everything at one till.
Very American!
I remember the first self service store opening where I lived my early years, in Tower Bridge Road.Wolfie wrote:I remember the Sydenham Sainsbury's from the 1960s - very traditional.
I also remember being very impressed when the first 'supermarket' opened in Sydenham - Victor Values, on the same side of the High Street as Sainsbury's but closer to the railway bridge. This was called a 'supermarket' as it was the first shop where the customer took a wire handbasket and selected their goods from the shelves before paying for everything at one till.
Very American!
Just two aisles, one up one down, with a central shelving gondola; you went in one door, up the aisle, down the other and out past the till.
No fresh food at all, everything was packets and tins, and it was a good place to go if you wanted something quick, because there was never a queue, in fact you would often be the only person in there.
How times have changed!