Lewisham to see new Waterstones book store as Pret opens
A number of new businesses will open across Lewisham in coming months with the latest announcement being a Waterstones book store.
A big thanks to a reader who contacted me with the news after the company announced new stores in London.
The store is set to open before Christmas. No exact location has been revealed and the company have been contacted for more information.
Meanwhile a Pret has opened near the station. Some have already stated “gentrification” which I often find a tad odd about Pret as they’re the cheapest place to get a coffee just about anywhere and are ten a penny across the country.
They’ll do a 99p coffee (or 49p if you bring a cup) which is cheaper than Costa or Starbucks, cheaper than an Asda self serve machine or a McDonalds and less than a Wetherspoons (free refills there granted).
I guess if you want a pint of milky silliness they’ll be a bit more but for a filter coffee you can’t really complain.
It brings to mind the long asked question of just what is gentrification? If it’s unaffordable housing for many then that’s every inch of London and beyond now. A coffee place doing a 99p filter is the least of far wider and deeper structural problems.
Anyway, back to new shops. The completion of Lewisham Gateway’s next phase will also see a Sainsbury’s supermarket. A number of other units are on the way though confirmation of all hasn’t been announced. I’ll be keeping tabs on the Lewisham Council planning website.
Always a pleasure to see a bookshop: the nearest decent one nearby is in New Cross; hopefully this new one will curate a good selection of finds to sit alongside the usual shelf-fillers. As for Pret, bloody typical we get it once the subscription service ends: just like Slim Chickens down in Greenwich, we only get the good chain stores once they start lowering their offerings
There is also a cinema coming after all. The signpost for it is up, and the Get Living chap came out of his office when I wandered in the direction indicated and pointed out the block where it will be
Ah that’s good news. Any idea who will be running it?
I wonder where it will be.
I’ve contacted them. No reply yet
If you find out, please leave a note on https://openstreetmap.org 🙂
The new Waterstones will be in Lewisham Shopping Centre, on the west side of the central mall.
This is weird. I was at the Lewisham station bus stop today (15 October) heading for Eltham and Grove Park and never noticed the Pret’s, but I did get off a bus coming from New Cross. Pret’s will doubtless be welcomed by all those living in the expensive nearby flats. I can’t afford it now, but it was my regular lunchtime sandwich shop when I was working in the City.
It’s 49p a coffee with your own cup. Nowhere cheaper.
@J Smith: I don’t drink coffee and the places where you can buy a hot drink in Lewisham are so near my home, that I wouldn’t bother. I do welcome the Waterstones, though.
Thanks for the update. So happy to hear Pret has opened and there’s a Waterstones on the way. We’ve waited a long time for this and glad to see it’s coming to fruition!
Any way Lewisham can be persuaded to move the currently closed (until 2026!) Central Library to the Gateway development? I get the feeling this will be a much buzzier place than the dismal western end of the shopping centre.
@Another local resident: the library is closed for refurbishment, so Lewisham is committed to that space. In any event, I don’t think the council can afford the doubtless astromonical rent being charged in that new development.
I was in Lewisham Shopping centre a couple of days’ ago and the Waterstones will be opening there in quite a big unit. It will be good to have a decent bookshop rather than the paltry offerings in WHSmith, but let’s see if there is enough custom for the shop to be viable.