The "Push Back" of Croydon's Shopping Revival

On July 15th, Fairfield Halls will temporarily close for two years, in order for its “comprehensive redevelopment” to take place. Although a two year closure may pose some problems, I’m happy to see that Fairfield’s redevelopment will be taking place sooner rather than later, as the same can’t be said for Westfield and Hammerson.

When I read that the start of construction work for the Westfield and Hammerson development had been pushed back to 2017, I was very irritated. I thought that construction work would have finally started this year, but what should have been opening in 2019 may now be pushed back to 2020 or 2021, which does not impress me at all.

As a young person who has watched Croydon’s shopping scene disintegrate over the 23 years of my life, I was thoroughly excited for this big, sparkling new shopping centre that would bring shopping in Croydon Town Centre back to life. When walking through Centrale and the Whitgift Centre, it makes me sad to see how dead it is a lot of the time and having to stare at the many empty shop fronts that have been vacant for weeks, months and sometimes even years.

Growing up, I used to love going shopping in Croydon. As a little girl, I remember going to the now defunct toy store that was next Aquazoo, getting excited about all the toys I was surrounded by and wanting to buy every new Barbie I saw. I was really upset when it closed down, but what has upset me more is seeing nothing replace it for countless years.

As a teenager, I enjoyed shopping with my sister and a friend in Allders, checking out the young fashion and deciding what we wanted most, because we were on a limited budget. Whenever I wanted anything cute and pretty, or for a special occasion, I went straight to Clobber – it wasn’t high end but it was full of great pieces I fell in love with, some of which I still have today.

That’s changed now. Clobber is no longer there; Allders is no longer there; the toy shop I loved is no longer there. In fact, so many other shops are no longer there. Yet what remains clear is that the shopping culture in Croydon desperately needs a lift. What is on offer can often be disappointing, especially when chains like H&M and Topshop don’t get those exciting pieces that can be found in other big shopping centres, or when we don’t have more quality brands close by.

However, as a young person, it is not just about the shopping culture. It is also about the job culture. A delay in the development will also mean a delay in all of the jobs that were promised. What about all of the young people who were supposed to work on the construction site? What about the young people who were going to get all of those retail jobs? It just drifts further and further away from them.

So much has been promised with this development, but the question is, when will it all come to fruition? And by then, will it be too late or will Croydon’s shopping culture rise again?

Photo by Philip Talmage and used under Creative Commons License.