Shopkeeper left ‘heartbroken’ after area’s one remaining store closes its doors

By Francesca Casonato

Residents have been left without a local store after the area’s last remaining shop closed down in the middle of the night.

Fal’s Londis in Poynders Parade, Clapham Park, Lambeth, was the last local grocery store left in the street after housing association Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) took over the estate Regeneration Project in 2005.

Fal Patel’s family opened the business 41 years ago, but at 4 am on July 17, MTVH came and took over the shop.

Mrs Patel said: “We didn’t know they were coming. They completely stripped our shop down. It feels like a nightmare, I just want it to end now.”

Mrs Patel was notified months in advance about the ending of her lease in July 2021, however she could not attend the phone hearing in March to defend her case.

She said: “It was a little bit our fault, we were so busy. During lockdown, they were sending us papers and court orders, but I was working over 16 hours per day and I was literally falling asleep on my dinner.”

Some residents started an online campaign, which reached more than 290 signatures, to ask MTVH to give Mrs Patel a short-term tenancy at will, in order to re-open the shop and serve the community until the demolition date.

Joanna Eaves, who launched the petition, said: “We are begging them to allow Fal a little bit of extra time to say goodbye to her customers. This wasn’t just a shop, there was a connection with our community.”

MTVH has denied the request so far and explained: “For further progress to be made on the next stage of this development, demolition of the commercial units on Poynders Road is necessary to make way for over 400 new homes and part of the new park.”

Mrs Patel said: “We are heartbroken. We feel like we have let our customers down. Especially my elderly customers, who cannot walk to the Sainsbury’s that is half a mile away.”

James Guiheen, who has lived in Poynders Parade for 38 years and has a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, could walk only to Mrs Patel’s shop to buy his groceries.

Mr Guiheen said: “The situation in the parade is absolutely desperate. We had everything when we moved here. Pubs, a post office and shops. Now there is nothing. I used to go across the street to get my newspaper. Now I have to have it delivered, which costs more.”

According to MTVH’s plan, the housing association will provide nine commercial units in King’s Avenue, however there is not a date for when these new businesses will open.

Another resident, Dean Sturrock, 46, said: “They took the heart out of the community. Fal’s Londis always helped residents, even during the lockdown, delivering food parcels to those who were isolating.”

Mrs Patel said: “I did that for so many people. I was there to serve my customers in a really bad time, when Covid was at its peak, and I find some solace in that. I did whatever I could for them.”

Pictured top: Fal’s Londis in Poynders Parade, Clapham Park, Lambeth