Brixton Campaign: Ban/Boycott Brixton Starbucks

Starbucks Brixton

Starbucks opened a new branch in Brixton today right beside the tube station, and already a campaign has been launched to boycott the new shop. In the past few years, the high street has seen the death of Woolworths and the arrival of H&M and T-Mobile, while the market is becoming a home for independent, but more ‘chichi’ shops.  What do you think? Is it the death knell for Brixton’s unique ‘character’ or is it best to agree with one tweeter’s remark that, “it’s only a small branch of Starbucks, stop whining. That’s how our economy works.”

If you want to boycott the Starbucks, here are some views on where to get the best coffee in Brixton (and they’re not all votes for Federation Coffee):

Christopher Douse, Brixton: Federation hands down. Only other contender is Opus (1.50 for a small cappucino) but it’s a bit inconsistent. £2 for a cappucino in Federation (there is only one size), very smooth but intense coffee flavour and lovingly prepared each time so it’s consistent. Plus they are really friendly (e.g. gave me a new one for free when I spilt my first one without having had a sip!). So even though it’s £2, which is relatively expensive for an independent coffee, you don’t feel remotely ripped off. You can get a loyalty card, too (6 coffees get the 7th free or something like that).

Anonymous (ahem, apparently that’s how contentious coffee is in Brixton this week…): Rice milk latte @ Wild Caper… Why? It’s light, sweet and smooth all at once… Little cup of heaven 🙂

@tomp2 @FederationCoffe without a doubt! Their flat whites and iced lattes are made with more attention than any other coffee I’ve had

@82mmphotography hey- mine would have to be the hive! Great place for lazy hangover lunchtimes;) Thanks 82mm.com

@FreeSouthLondon It has to be @FederationCoffe(e). All other Brixtonian coffeemakers will undergo 3 hours of public ideological humiliation.

@Brixtonbeats love a good latte at opus… Just tastes like quality in coffee form 🙂

@mr_richie Has to be San Marino’s, best in #Brixton by far. Enormous lattes, a veritable bucket of coffee. And they’re pleasantly brusque.

@mr_richie Oh, and Lori’s Frothy Coffee booth in the newsagents by McD’s is worth a look too.

@rodstanley the new Starbucks *sarcasm*

@SimonTateBooks Honest cafe is decent, as is Ritzy, not tried San Marinos. I’m kinda depressed about the new Starbucks opening 😦

@lauracward Cornercopia, then Federation. I like everything about Cornercopia – desserts, tables, chutneys and it’s a bargain!

@DJDanCook Federation, Flat white, every morning

@DogstarBrixton federation coffee – cool place, amazing coffee, good beans from nude esspresso, in Market which is great & NOT starbucks 🙂

@DogstarBrixton by time we roll up its time for a Caffè macchiato…

@CllrMattBennett Rosie’s in the market does tasty coffee; plus it isn’t just served in an identikit bucket like the chains…

@WindmillBrixton Bollocks to Starbucks. Adam’s Bakery on Brixton Hill does good coffee at £1 a cup!!!

In what is becoming a bizarrely coffee-themed week, here’s a pic of the new coffee shop (selling coffee beans to take home as well as cups of coffee) about to open next to Rosie’s Deli in the market.

And I don’t even drink the stuff…

Lori’s Frothy Coffee #2

When Brixton Blog interviewed Lori Gashient in January, he reported that business at the new ‘Lori’s Frothy Coffee Bar’ (in the Brixton Central Stop Shop) had been slow.  We caught up with him now that summer has come and after the rumours that Starbucks have signed a lease in a unit by the station. Here he is in his own words:

“Business hasn’t been very good, but it’s going OK. I think it takes a while for a food and drink business to get going – people put the stuff in their stomachs so they have to be more confident about it. I will stay open, but the summer will be quiet because people don’t want hot drinks like coffee as much. I would do cold coffee, but I’d need a sink to prepare that. Or I’d like to sell slush puppies. My wife is from Brazil so we might sell some Brazilian food too.

I had to stop selling the popcorn, because it wasn’t selling and the people in the offices upstairs complained about the smell!”

Lori’s Frothy Coffee Bar

Lorient Gashi in his coffee booth

In early January, a coffee booth appeared in the Brixton Central Stop shop next to McDonalds, selling cheap coffee to cold commuters. I have been walking past Lorient Gashi every morning and wondering about his stall. As it turns out, Gashi has been in Brixton a while – on the other side of the road with the Brixton Bazaar food market every weekend. When that was closed down at the end of last year, he decided to move Lori’s Frothy Coffee Bar into the Central Stop. “I stayed here because the people are alright. There’s trouble here and there, but it doesn’t affect us as traders.” Brixton residents are apparently so stuck in their ways that he has had to build up a new clientele after switching sides. “At the moment I don’t have many customers, because I’m new and not properly advertised in this booth. Maybe I’ll put a nice sign up.”  The coffee is not out of this world, but it is a good price (a regular latte is £1.60). “I try to be affordable for everybody”, he says. Lori is so well-meaning that he will prove a welcome addition to many a Brixtonian morning. Asked what one thing he would say to sell his coffee, he replies, “people are just welcome to come here, you know?”