Around Ealing and Red 358

I'm not sure how it worked/works in a 'planned economy' or was 50 or so years ago but in the post manufacturing South East of the UK there's generally a sort of turbulence in the shopping districts of towns and cities.

Bill's it's certainly not out on it's own (or by itself )

The sector that has the greatest churn is probably the restaurant and café  traders (less so until recently the public house  which would often trade with the same name for 100+ years) - while this is perhaps difficult for those working in the sector it does often mean that those not tuned to the customer requirements are replaced by a new entrant keen to satisfy demand.


The problem comes when market conditions mean that only chains or heavily financed new entrants can afford the sort of site that will deliver sufficient covers to create a business that can survive.

I like the signage too.

Bill's in Ealing has been around for nearly two years now (and they are sprouting up all over England)  and we visited again last week - the place was not as buzzing as the last time we visited and the food was no longer served piping hot, but they are surrounded by other restaurants of similar and diverse fayre  including the soon to open Pho - if they don't excel they will not survive.


On Sunday I had a coffee and a croissant with a friend at Electric Coffee Co, it's not part of a chain and  works hard against the 'big boys'

Needless to say they too are operating with a business model that offers little mercy to an outlet that is not meeting expectations and has many fixed overheads to meet regardless of  the number of customers or time of year.

Red 358

this one seemed to say something about my year long 'Red' project..

Actually 100% free