On 14 May 2017 at 8:07am Amy wrote:
New planning permission for the empty retail next to Aqua. Have googled Guidos possibly another Italian restaurant ?
On 14 May 2017 at 8:34am Foodie wrote:
Is it Guido's Kitchen (a London based Italian restaurant)? I was hoping that it might be a new independent restaurant with a Lewes bonfire theme! Remember The Gunpowder Plot? Not another Italian please.....
On 14 May 2017 at 8:42am Amy wrote:
There is an A4 noticed pinning to the shop front with a planning application relating to the drinks licence. I would like to see a Mexican or Spanish themed restaurant.
On 14 May 2017 at 9:15am Good god wrote:
There used to be guido's restaurant in the bottleneck, probably shut down about ten years ago.
On 14 May 2017 at 11:10am Hungry wrote:
You've mentioned Mexican and Spanish, how about:
Proper gourmet burger restaurant
Seafood restaurant
KFC
Upmarket Fried chicken
Steak house
French restaurant
Fine dinning
Macdonalds/Burgerking
Nandos
What would you like to see?
On 14 May 2017 at 11:16am Egon wrote:
@Foodie
Did the Gunpowder Plot just sell bangers?
On 14 May 2017 at 12:08pm Fot wrote:
Poundland p!ease
On 14 May 2017 at 1:05pm pedo wrote:
Lewes seems like the type of town that would have a Nandos. Although, I could easily imagine a pret being put there.
On 14 May 2017 at 1:31pm + wrote:
A Greek restaurant, please - or Lebanese.
On 14 May 2017 at 2:34pm Amy wrote:
Looks like part of The Loungers chain, Alcampo lounge in Brighton burgers tapas cocktails.
On 14 May 2017 at 7:06pm Winehouse wrote:
We need a wine bar.
On 14 May 2017 at 7:52pm Valerie wrote:
We have a wine bar.
On 14 May 2017 at 8:22pm Foodie wrote:
You're right Amy, I went and read the sign earlier. "Cafe bar" with a range of food - including burgers Hungry
On 14 May 2017 at 8:41pm GirlAboutTahn wrote:
I would love a Pret. Much better than a Nando's and something we don't have (a good, large cafe space with decent quality take away food)
On 14 May 2017 at 11:58pm Mr Trad wrote:
ffs do we really need any more bloody eateries in Lewes? How about some decent shops instead?
On 15 May 2017 at 3:43pm Localist wrote:
The rents on the PI units are around 50 - 60k a year. That's before rates and running costs. They are only affordable to chains and will never be anything other than eateries for that reason. For instance, a KFC franchise requires around 5 million just to get started. It will be considerably less for existing franchisees looking to expand, but I suspect there isn't the volume to make it viable. Whilst they do open their 'own' sites too, they only do it in very high volume areas, which Lewes, in those locations, would not be. I'm guessing MacDonalds, BK and Nandos will all be similar models. My view is the only way a small business or individual could make a decent living from food (or any other business) in Lewes, is if they own the freehold to the property. Those eateries that do, and I can only think of 3 in Lewes, seem to be thriving.
On 16 May 2017 at 8:11am Good god wrote:
I think we could do with lots more shops like closet & botts. There isn't enough choice for those that want to pay £30 for a spoon.
On 16 May 2017 at 4:34pm Billy Bunter wrote:
How many more eateries can a town of only 17,000 residents support..... ???
I know Lewes enjoys (?) the higher disposable incomes of a larger than average percentage of DFLs, but surely there must be point where the eatery market is saturated, even for food chains who can perhaps afford the higher business rates.
Lewes must soon reach the eatery 'event horizon' (as per shoe shops in Douglas Adam's HHGTTG series) for any more coffee shops, whether they are stand alone, or are just an odd table or two in a cheese or flower shop.
Even allowing for 'Ladies that Lunch', local businesses entertaining clients, well-off retired types, creative types, and increased National Park tourism, there can only be so many coffees that a town of this size will drink in a day, or so many meals that will be eaten in a day.
We cannot be far off saturation point if you work out how many pubs, restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, sandwich bars and misc food and/or drink outlets we have... how resilient will the demand be if Brexit leads to a downturn in the national economy? Or will the DFL element mean Lewes sees little change, as many residents who work in London will perhaps be largely immune from any wider downturn?
As others have said, can't we have some simple shops, and no more eateries, coffee bars, or over priced "Artisan" shops...oh no, the influx of DFL's, and the upmarket/"on trend" retaillers that have followed them here have priced run-of-the-mill shops selling reasonably priced goods out of the market.
On 17 May 2017 at 12:38pm shopper wrote:
@Billy Bunter
If you can make a living from a 'run of the mill' shop selling 'reasonably priced goods' in Lewes you deserve a medal. Rent and business rates are linked to the value of the premises (i.e astronomical) so the only 'Reasonably priced goods' are sold by Tesco and Amazon etc. As for cafes, the market will tell us how many can be supported. Eating out has grown massively in the UK and the trend is still up.
On 17 May 2017 at 3:09pm Billy Bunter wrote:
@ shopper - my point exactly.
But there must come a point where a town of 17,000, even if that number contains higher than average percentage of better-off folk, reaches "eatery-saturation" point as there will simply be too few clients to support them all. Market forces will prevail...
Though I concede that, until every single resident who can afford to is eating all three main-meals a day outside the home, Lewes may still be some way short of that saturation point!