Finally a guide to London’s Independent shop scene, long over-due this is a comprehensive photography based guide to the best independent shops in London.

Britain: a nation of shopkeepers? …but where are they all? Working at Tesco’s? 2000 local shops are closing each year in Britain (since the end of World War II, the number of small shops has plunged from 500,000 to 30,000). Enough is enough.

We know you know where Boots, Snappy Snaps and the other (insert name here) clone high street shops are but where’s the Flea-Pit or F-Art or La Bouche? Well they’re all here in this little gem of a guidebook. Your Independent Store Guide is our way to inform you of all that’s individual, artisan, inspirational, eclectic and just great, as well as of course independent – independent of mind, spirit, and soul.

‘Clone town’ is a threat to diversity, the environment the very social fabric of Britain, it’s time to redress the balance so we want to show you the best in Independent shopping around London. We can’t promise free parking, trolleys, long queues and 2 for 1 offers but with our detailed descriptions and photographs we can help you find the best in individual shopping in London.

Be Independent.

Where do you like to do your shopping? Do you have a favourite independent shop in your neighbourhood, tell us about it and we'll try to include it in our next guide. If featured we might even add a quote about it from you.

LCC member? we'd like to hear about your favourite places to shop in London, especially on your bike, the routes you like and why. The best 15 suggestions will get one of our lovely books, completely FREE!

send your suggestions to 'guide at independentlondon dot com'

Some events coming up this christmas.

BLACKLISTED - NICHE ANTIQUES
While we love all the shops in our guide, we feel forced to notify our readers and potential customers of this shop that has behaved quite disgracefully. After two years niche antiques on Chamberlayne rd. have not paid any of their invoices owing to us and we are in the process of taking them to court. We have made every effort to settle before getting to this point but they have continually ignored us.We have decided to put this notice here to foreworn potential customers and clients of Niche antiques of their business practice and also to make clear we do not wish to promote businesses that behave in this unethical way. It saddens us to have to take this action but we feel left with little choice.

Community building
This seems quite obvious, markets have always been places where people could network, this doesn’t happen in large chains as there are few areas to relax and many people are not local in any case with many people driving great distances to get a bargain.

Meet the experts
When someone runs a shop with their product, lets say a butcher, they know their subject, how many times have you been to a supermarket and had good advise from someone who has worked and trained in butchery. Supermarkets are not specialised they specialise in retail, maximising profit, not always for our good.

Better for suppliers
Because small shops specialise they can have better and closer relationships with their suppliers, they understand one another. Chains have a take it or leave it approach, usually meaning insisting on the lowest prices possible to the detriment often of quality with farmers/manufacturers cutting corners. We can see this with the poor quality of manufacture coming out of China.

Environment
We are increasingly hearing the case for the environment, firstly people should think about what they need rather than buying on impulse or whims, then they should try and source it from a local supplier, in order to try and keep the money in the local economy and of course if this is not possible, I would then go to John Lewis! or another store with ethical/environmental policies. What we all do has an effect, check the label, where food is concerned where possible buy local produce, in my local Tesco there was not a single apple from Europe let alone the UK, they were all from South Africa, New Zealand and Chile. All of them! This can only be greed. What does this sort of mindless commerce mean for the future of food production and the environment when artificially ripened, mediocre apples are being shipped thousands miles to the heartland of apple growing, probably in the world! It's symptomatic of our times.

"Supermarkets were put there to alienate and disenfranchise communities" -Little Britain.

Ecologist guide to not shopping in supermarkets

Quality of life
Lastly but very importantly I would like to say this is an often missed part of this discussion, ‘quality of life’. One of the most enjoyable parts of life should be enjoying your neighbourhood, newspaper from Mr Patel, coffee on Franks café and buying some meat from Wells the butcher. But, when these things are reduced to WHSmith, Starbucks and Tesco, I think you know what I’m saying how this reduces the richness of our lives. What will our streets be like when the chains squeeze out all the small operators, will we forever be walking across car parks with plastic bags blowing in the wind to get a coffee, newspaper or flowers, where’s the community in that? Things have slipped far enough……we are all responsible these are our streets, time to rest control.

Finally
On a global note, this text is my experience in London but I’m sure applies increasingly anywhere around the globe, especially as world trade and globalisation increase. The danger is if we let this situation persist what will happen when all agriculture and manufacturing is done in far way countries, especially when they all these businesses are owned their to, prices of goods will also be out of our hands, then we will know what power, or the lack of it is.

Local to Global. It’s a two way street.
Be Independent.

See the book in a shop in your area, a non-comprehensive list of shops stocking the book. And if they don't have it, ask for it, or help us by buying here online. If you are a shop owner interested in stocking our book please contact us.