Mr Le, shoe repair, London Road

Does anyone know if all is ok and he is still trading? I only pass on Saturdays and he should be open, but has been closed when I have passed. Fingers crossed he is - he has my favourite shoes!

He’s just repaired a favourite pair of boots for me again. I collected them on Thursday. He was well.

Perfect. Mid week then. Thank you.

He’s the best shoe repairer ! so good at what he does.

I was recommended to go to him with my beloved long Radley umbrella that wouldn’t open after it got caught in the horrible winds & rain a few months ago.
I said to him that I had been told he was a wizard, & he was! Such a nice man & only charged me £4!

He sounds just the ticket.Where is his shop ? I have a pair of motorcycle boots that need to be re soled and heeled. i wonder if he would do something more substantial like that

London road, next to Ferfect Fried Chicken!

He used to rent one of my shops in Dartmouth Road and he did loads of odd repairs for me - including re-palming ice hockey gloves and stitching & reinforcing damaged ice hockey skates so I can vouch that his skills and craft go well beyond yer normal heel-bar stuff.

He sounds like my kinda guy

He is definitely not just any old shoe repair guy he is a really skilled artisan.
I’ve had him stitch shoes and a bag for me.
He also did a quick fix on a torn strap for me and didn’t want to charge me.
A really decent bloke

Not to forget that he does key-cutting too… Really nice guy.

and replaces watch batteries!

Now that’s handy to know too.

Hi Anotherjohn

This is Mr le here , 22 London road shop repair.
Do you have any shop nearby for rent?
If you do please let me know.

Mr Le.

Hi Mr Le
I would love to have you back, but, unfortunately, all of my shops are fully tenanted at the moment and I’m not aware of anything coming up so I’m afraid I can’t help on that side of things at this time.
Please feel free to phone me if I can help you with any problems that you may be having with your current landlord as I know that language can be a barrier when it comes to technical legal matters. 07973 208899.
All the very best to you and your family.
John

Hi Jonh

Thank you for your quick reply,
I will have to keep on looking, thank you for your great comments on the se23 life.

Mr Le.

Please stay in the area!
You are incredible at what you do and I recommend you to many people.
and you are a really nice man.

Hi there

I will not be leaving the area, just need somewhere bigger, that’s all
Thank you for your comments

There are several empty shops on Kirkdale, but I’m afraid I’m out of touch with who owns them.

Thank you

Dear customers/friends and forest hill peoples,

If anyone’s knows a empty shop in forest hill please let me know.

If anyone’s knows who the owner of the empty babar shop on Dartmouth road near the swimming pool please let me know.

If I can’t find a shop near by then i will have no choice but to move location very soon .

Thank you guy’s.

Not sure if Honor Oak is ok for you, but there is a shop there with Yardleys sign on the front on Brockley Rise between Dalmain School and the South Circular.

As far as I can tell it’s been closed for at least 15 years or so so not sure what state it is in, though there was some work going on relatively recently, but perhaps that was just for the flats above.

No idea if it is actually available but might be worth looking into.

The old Iceni music shop near it is also empty now I think (they moved out during lockdown).

That corner has been coming up for a while and you now have a Sans Store, Pizzarte, Hairdressers, Launderette, Bravos Bikes, Junction876, Soundheart music, Newsagent’s etc and some others I have forgotten

Good luck.

I will have a look thank you

Also the old flower shop on Honor Oak Park maybe available. Or the old flower shop on Brockley Rise (at the other end, near the triangle and down from Marvelous Greens & Beans).

Stay in Forest Hill please, Mr Le, don’t emigrate to Honor Oak (wherever that is.)

There used to be a commercial property just as you went into Havelock walk on the right. But I can’t see it now. But this came up it used to be a shop the website says it’s an office to rent, Dartmouth Rd Dartmouth Road, Forrest Hill SE23, office to let - 59888920 | PrimeLocation

I really don’t know what’s gone on with this property. It used to be a larger shop and now there is just a tiny room at the front that seems suitable for no purpose. I’m surprised it got planning permission.

I took a peek through the window of that place on Saturday with Mr Le in mind, but it’s too small for his business - or pretty much any business come to that!

It’s a joke property since the building was sold and reconfigured by its new owner earlier this year. Unfortunately though, with the government’s stupid new permitted development rights (see below) having just been pushed through - and if Lewisham’s planning department can’t use the Forest Hill Conservation Area as a reason to object to the loss of the commercial unit - we might even see its complete loss to the town centre.

https://www.rtpi.org.uk/news/2021/august/pressing-ahead-with-new-planning-rules-could-diminish-high-streets-rtpi-warns/

OOPS - I replied to myself by mistake

Have you tried knocking on doors of other local shops that might have a spare space at the rear or basement - maybe like dry cleaners or the video shop - where there’s a possibility of maybe a little display at the front?
(And further to my previous post, I’m still willing to look at your current arrangement to see if there’s any scope to get you some more time).

Thanks John I have, but because of all my machines, I will need to find a empty shop.

Of course - I hadn’t considered the considerable size of that main machine.
I hope you get something sorted.

Could either of these shops be any good? Next to Living Springs Church on the bit of Devonshire Rd which is also part of the South Circular. Perhaps @Anotherjohn knows who owns them? One has just had new shutters installed so perhaps something is planned there. Not a great deal of footfall, but with a business like yours it is more of a destination in any case. Also re the barbers by the pools, did you try checking with Land Registry to see who the current owner is?

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I wonder, do Lewisham council have power to reclaim shops vacant due to absentee landlords. I always wondered if that was the issue with these and Dartmouth Tandoori, as they’ve been empty so long. Such a shame when demand is high.

Thank you my friend, I will have a look into this.

I had already found the owner via the Land Registry but neighbours told me that he wasn’t looking to relet as the lease with the previous tenant may still be in force - so getting hold of Rob (the barber) would probably be key here.

I’m not aware of a local authority having any such power.
I think the only deterrent they may have is that there would be no Business Rates relief or reduction on empty premises, which means that BR payable on this shop as a vacant premises is £6,125pa, whereas, if it was occupied by a single premises business it would attract Small Business Rates Relief to reduce the bill to £980pa.

The corner shop at 92 Kirkdale has been empty and boarded up for close on 20 years now. It’s a former Thai restaurant and I believe the owner has a Thai restaurant in the Catford area (though I’m unsure about that). I think I still have Land Registry details but from a few years ago so they may well be out of date. I’ll see if I can find them. It’s a prime location at the junction of Kirkdale and Fransfield Grove and gets a lot of passing footfall, especially at school run time. It’s a disgrace it’s lain empty for so many years.

Our local ward councillors @LeoGibbons and @SophieDavis post on this site, so perhaps they can help. Or @CllrChrisBest who posts on sister site SE26.Life might be able to help. Chris is Chair(?) I think of SEE3, which is an organization that received a grant a few years back from the Portas Pilot initiative to kick start the revival of Forest Hill, Sydenham and Kirkdale high streets. Lewisham Council know who owns it, because of Council Tax. They won’t reveal details to members of the public, but they might tell a Councillor … maybe.

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Not yet it seems. But some making noise about it

Thank you - that’s interesting.

The notion of disincentivising long-term vacant shops and penalising their blight on an area has some merit, however, the proposed mechanism behind “The policy would likely see commercial properties being rented out at below market rates”, needs very thorough explanation to be properly evaluated. Another consideration is that a shop might be leased to a tenant, who’s keeping the place empty, and there might be technical legal issues preventing a landlord from taking back possession. Alternatively a landlord may have spent many months or years trying to let the property to a good tenant. By the way, any mug can let any shop to a tenant willing to pay a fraction of market rent, but that doesn’t give any guarantee whatsoever of a successful long-term outcome for the tenant, the property or that particular shopping parade.

There is a way to avoid paying business rates even if a property is empty.

Thank you to all you guy’s for helping me find a shop, I will always miss you lovely people’s

To all the lovely people in forest hill, I would like to start by saying Thank to all of you for trying to help me find a new shop. The update is that it will be the end of Mr Le’s shoe repair & key Cutting.
There will be a new beginning for ( MR COBBLER ) on 25 London road . Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas & happy new year.

Ps: Once again Thank you to all!

Will Mr Cobbler be run by you?

Yes sir

That’s great news!

I’m sure you and your family’s Christmas will be a much better one now that you’ve got that sorted out.

A heavy weight of my shoulders John, Merry Christmas to you and family

Merry Christmas to you all too!

Wonderful news - congratulations!!

That is good news!

Glad that you are staying local. When do you close and relocate?

Great news!!!
You are the best!
Wishing you happy holidays and good health and happiness for you and your family in 2022

Last day 24th December, reopened? As soon as I know I will keep u guy’s imfrom

What brilliant news! Wishing you all the very best for Mr Cobbler.

There is a planning application to join the two units together at 22 and 22a London Road.

http://planning.lewisham.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=_LEWIS_DCAPR_112717

Not sure what is planned for the upstairs rooms, previously used by the dentist, or why there is a need to have a two-storey extension for ‘storage’.

Hello forest hill lovely people’s!

Just a little update to all my customers and friends,
MR COBBLER will be open today, new opening times: Mon-Sat 9am-6pm. Please forgive me, as the shop signs is still awaiting.

I know you’re not going to need it - but good luck in your new premises!

The thing is, it’s a much bigger and better shop than you had before so I’m sure that will only enhance your scope and prospects.

Best wishes!

Thank you John