No one in Honor Oak needs to use Dominos, but it will still succeed.
Dominos looked at demand within the delivery radius, and found it sufficient to keep their mopeds zipping around. All the sums have already been done. People want cheap pizza delivered to their flats. Dominos want to dominate on coverage and delivery time to meet aggressive global objectives.
Dominos could have operated equally well from a unit on the Malham trading estate, for example. That way they wouldn’t have disturbed so many residents with midnight mopeds, and they wouldn’t have taken a shopfront unit that could have been a unique local destination shop.
But Dominos HQ did the sums and worked out the marketing value of having a large brightly illuminated sign on a road with decent traffic flow.
It’s all carefully calculated. They will succeed. People in underpants will get their calorie-maximised, satisfaction-maximised frozen/reheated/rehydrated stuffed crust pizzas and hot cookies from the comfort of their sofas. And in ten minutes rather than fifteen minutes. They’ll keep coming back for more. Not coming to the high street, sadly - but via online orders and moped deliveries.
That’s a lot of assumptions you’re making about Dominoes customers there, Chris. Of which I am one. Sometimes a girl wants hand stretched sour dough, sometimes she wants hot cookies.
Yet I held back and bit my tongue with that post! …
I was a regular consumer of Dominos pizza at midnight in Bath University Library as a lazy and indiscriminate student. Been there, done that, got the cholesterol.
The thought that some beautiful Georgian Bath stone shop in the historic city had been lost to this drab, soulless chain, feeding s**t to students now makes me very sad.
There’s more than a kernel of truth in my somewhat lighthearted post - and you know it!
Although, to be clear, I didn’t actually say that “only the lazy” eat Dominos - I said that I was a lazy student, which is just an anecdotal statement of fact
Boiling this down, the main objection to Domino’s appears to be that despite apparently being unwanted by everyone in Honor Oak Park (Honor Oak is somewhere else, IMO), it might be popular.
The thing is, I’m not sure how that works in practice: we live in the middle of a city. If the branch opened in Malham Road, surely the same amount of traffic would just be going in the opposite direction? Maybe what we need is for those pesky restrictions on drones to be relaxed and pizza to be delivered without the need for roads…
The more popular @Pauline’s shop gets, for example, the more friendly local banter, the more footfall on Dartmouth road, the more independent, characterful and unique shops will be encouraged to join her.
On the other hand, with Dominos, the more popular it gets, the more identikit delivery hubs spring up, the more mopeds buzz around at midnight, the less uniqueness there is to see and experience on the high street, and the less independent shops will be enticed to join the parade.
How do you know they won’t deliver in cars sometimes? Or maybe even electric mopeds which don’t make any noise.
How do you know that the franchisee (apparently a local independent business owner who’s been on the parade for decades) won’t be contributing just as much to the community as someone who owns a visibly independent shop? What about creating jobs and allowing consumer choice?
Which ever way you look at it, I have to agree, that’s sure how it seems.
Thriving high street, but only of shops that suit.
This whole fantasy that independent shops are the only way is insane. If a shop brings business and employment, then it should be welcomed, surely? All about the economy, right?
My favourite thriving high street is Primrose Hill.
I’m sure someone will demonstrate some inverse snobbery and lambast me for it.
Primrose Hill made it a mission to encourage interesting, unique, independent shops to flourish. Now it’s a destination - a lovely place to spend time.
Is that a serious statement?
An over the counter and delivery service could work from a trading estate?
I have to be honest here, I am astonished at the level of negativity being generated against a potential new business. Delivery pizza, from a successful company who paved the way for some of the independents… How very dare they!
And that is what makes it unique, different, and a destination. Not the same as another place.
What works for one area and demographic doesn’t always work for the next.
Arinsal has a cool high street, some great bars and eateries, I wish FH was the same but alas there are mo mountains to ski on.
HOP has been developing this way ever since I moved here five years ago. We have some amazing independents.
Who’s to say this is the best way? All I know is that Dominos already serves the area. For it to consume a shopfront and to buck the independent HOP trend makes me very sad.
And we might be hearing from a vocal minority in this discussion - the straw poll suggests I’m not alone in resenting the arrival of Dominos.
I think the way to look at this, seriously, is to be objective.
The road is open 24hrs a day, and has traffic regularly. Heavy footfall during the day with commuters, decent footfall in the evenings and weekends to local businesses.
It has a busy mini supermarket which attracts short stay parking shoppers, a cab office, off licence if I am not mistaken, and other eateries and social venues which are open late and sell alcohol? I think.
Therefore it is fair to say it is no country lane, or quaint village road.
The increase in traffic would be 10-20 arrivals and departures an hour, it is unlikely to attract too many people loitering, doesn’t sell alcohol so unlikely to become to anti social.
I think the main objections to this whole proposal are as simple as this.
Dominos is not good enough for HOP.
Mopeds might be involved
Dislike of the brand
None of which are really in any way an argument to the proposal.
On the flip side it will increase employment by a few heads.
Local businesses may benefit from people collecting.
The area will have another option for food.
Dominos customers will receive their order quicker than from Catford branch.
A business / property will continue to thrive.
