HAMPSTEAD EMPORIUM IS THREATENED WITH CLOSURE - SIGN OUR PETITION TO HELP PROTECT IT
The owners of the celebrated Hampstead Emporium are threatening it with closure. The full story was in the CNJ last week and can be read here
For almost 60 years, the Emporium has been home to around 25 locally based small shops and stalls - much loved across our community. It is a community that attracts tourists from around the world. In a village that is slowly being taken over by speculators it preserves a charm that makes Hampstead so special.
Make the Emporium an Asset of Community Value.
Will closure mean this valuable site being developed as more flats? The only way to prevent this happening is for it to be protected as an Asset of Community Value. Camden can grant this protect premises that promotes the welfare and interests of our local community. It restricts the ability of the owner to dispose of a property and may also affect the planning position. The White Bear is a great local example of this.
Would the Emporium be suitable as an ACV.
Yes! It has served the Hampstead community for almost 60 years. With its second and third hand shops, arts and crafts, is a place where sustainability and reuse are actively lived.
Clls Andrew Parkinson, Gio Spinella and Stephen Stark are calling on Camden Council to help protect the Emporium by making it an Asset of Community Value. If you agree please sign the petition using this link or QR code. We will present it to Camden.
Sign our petition here
Camden Conservatives fought for our Emporium!
During Covid, your local Conservatives lobbied Camden to support Hampstead's stallholders and market traders with discretionary funds. That would have helped the traders not to get into the financially strained situation they are in today. The situation at the Emporium would look different today. However, Camden has allocated all available funds to Camden Town and Hatton Garden. If the Labour Party had been genuinely interested in protecting small businesses, providing equal support for everyone in Camden and not just playing politics, they could have rescued the Emporium traders would not be in this desperate situation today.
What local traders are saying about the Emporium
Alexandra from the Curiosity Cabinet:
“I lost my flat above the Cafe Rouge as it was to be turned into a luxury flat and now I’m losing my business. Even if I find somewhere else it won’t have the community connection this place has. Which is what I’ve been building up for 5 years. This is my area where I live. This is my livelihood but it’s also a way of life. Many of my regular customers have become my friends. I’ve spent years building my business up and now after surviving those hard times - including Covid - I’m not able to enjoy what should have been the fruits.’
Carlo Della Croce from a stall inside:
“’I’m devastated! We’ve been thrown in at the deep end. He’s (the freeholder) strategically put us into a position where the only thing we can focus on is to look for something new at the speed of light. We’ve only had minimum notice! If he’d given us 4 or 5 months - we might have had a chance to fight it! But with only 2 months all we can think about is finding something else. It takes years to build the business up. I’ve done all the hard work, the experimentation and now I’ve got the experience it’s finished. All the dedication and now it’s back to the drawing board.
Customer Vicky Carpenter:
“From my own point of view - as a customer and a Hampstead local - I feel so sad that we are to be deprived of one of the very few places that still reflects the old true Hampstead spirit. I cherish this place! I visit almost daily - not just to shop but for the atmosphere, charm and community. You can meet the kind of people who share your values - your love of history, culture, tradition and mystery. I rely on this place for my costumes and props whenever I do a play.
Quotes of customers:
“I like the characters I meet here. Many of the shop and stall holders have become close friends.”
“With just a turn to the right one can leave the noisy street with all the stress of the modern world into an antique Narnia. Along the old narrow passageway.”
“I love to rummage amongst the curiosities, the textiles, the books, the old post cards. It’s rich with history. You can learn so much too.”
“You can bring in things to show the stall/ shop owners for advice - when you are unsure of the origin or what’s it’s made of or the date. You always get expert opinions and often from the customers who happen to be around “
“There’s a whole other world at the Emporium.”
“It’s a relief to escape here from the modern world. This is one of my most cherished places in Hampstead.”
