[Closed] I just don't get this (cereal cafe content)

I dunno but whilst hanging out at brick lane trying to spot my stolen bike , the queue for that place of post clubbing kids was running down the street

Just a bunch of thugs out looking for an excuse to vandalise something and picked on the cereal guys because they are a bit new.

Their alleged reasoning was that none of the locals could afford to eat there.

Other than all the locals queuing outside every morning....

Lol at 'we don't want brioche buns'! It's like something out of the daily mash. Can see why people on low incomes in London get annoyed but surely there is more variety for everyone now ranging from cheap and cheerful to uber expensive? Ps I may have had a locally sourced, 35 day aged burger in a brioche bun whilst visiting an Apple festival today...if that's gentrification bring it on!

[i]"They had torches and pigs' heads"[/i]

So old Etonians then.

like overpriced coffee shops and wine bars its the place to be seen at, both wine and coffee are available at cheaper outlets.

Other than all the locals queuing outside every morning....

Locals or interlopers?

35 day aged burger

Was it not mouldy? 😉

Someone went out on a limb and opened a business, something different, maybe something fashionable. But someone is working for their living.
Some idle dickhead is jealous and tries to make some stupid point to look clever.
Just arseholes, that's all they are.

I also couldn't care less if someone wants to spend their hard earned on over priced nonsense but I think the reason it's been targeted is because;

a) its on the high street and therefore an easy access target. Protesters like everyone else love convenience.

b) The owners couldn't be more 'hipster' if they spent all day trying. This make them symbolic of the changing community.

c) The cereal cafe itself has no connection or usefulness to the established residents. Which again marks it out as symbolic of gentrification.

Can't say I find any of those three points a good reason to try and wreck their business but that's my best guess at understanding the targeting.

Some idle dickhead is jealous and tries to make some stupid point to look clever.
Just arseholes, that's all they are.

Yep. Shame they only arrested one of them, should have thrown them all in jail for a few weeks.....

Gentrification is something that's been happening in large cities for decades - New York leads the world in it, areas that were 'no go' for wealthy people 20 years ago, became 'up and coming' 10 years ago and 'high end' now. London is going through the same process and the 'hipsters' lead the charge, they make the unpalatable 'cool' and 'cool' makes cheap expensive in months not years and with most poor residents renting it means communities are wiped out when rents double or more.

I can't condone violent protests but I can understand the anger - Hipster cereal bars really are the epitome of gentrification and people are being priced out only out of thier imeadiate area but much further afield, because if you can't afford to live some rough bit of East London the greater London suburbs aren't going to hold much for you either - where the hell do you go?

"trash a bank if you've got real balls"

What P-Jay said. Alternative cereal is available. Alternative housing, not so much.

Don't blame the protesters at all, I would do similar if these types of hipster **** and their customers started infiltrating my area.

Really?

started infiltrating my area

Hipster cereal bars really are the epitome of gentrification and people are being priced out only out of their immediate area

Presumably people who [i]own[/i] their own property are quite happy to see gentrification as the value of their houses goes through the roof?

if you can't afford to live some rough bit of East London the greater London suburbs aren't going to hold much for you either - where the hell do you go?

Sell your cupboard in London and buy a castle in the North?

Presumably people who own their own property are quite happy to see gentrification as the value of their houses goes through the roof?

I'm sure, but for people struggling to pay the rent, that is a benefit they don't enjoy.

Don't blame the protesters at all, I would do similar if these types of hipster **** and their customers started infiltrating my area.
Really?

Have you been the victim of a ninja edit? I can't see where that has been said.

I'm sure, but for people struggling to pay the rent, that is a benefit they don't enjoy

I wonder how trashing a niche restaurant is going to help them pay the rent?
If you want cheap coffee/tea/cereal then buy the cheapest in bulk and eat it at home and find something more worthwhile to rebel against.

Really?

Yes, someone needs to take a stand against these overcharging cereal selling scumbags.

What's your area?

A nice rough area where property prices are low and people are skint.

Presumably people who own their own property are quite happy to see gentrification as the value of their houses goes through the roof?

Yes, I imagine the selfish and self centred ones would be.

I'm sure, but for people struggling to pay the rent, that is a benefit they don't enjoy.

Absolutely. I understand that. Just making the point that, contrary to the protests, I imagine quite a few of the residents will be over the moon with the idea that their crappy flat will quadruple* in value in the next few years.

* (made up figure)

Presumably people who own their own property are quite happy to see gentrification as the value of their houses goes through the roof?

They might have children who eventually might want to set up home in the area, "through the roof prices" won't help them.

And unless you sell and move out of the area it really doesn't matter how much it's worth.

Btw I hope you realise that by discussing the issue you are helping the vandals to succeed in what they presumably set out to do. Just saying like.

"trash a bank if you've got real balls"

Every time I get fed up here the rubbish posted on stw, someone quotes the dead kennedys and everything is OK again. 🙂

I wonder how trashing a niche restaurant is going to help them pay the rent?
If you want cheap coffee/tea/cereal then buy the cheapest in bulk and eat it at home and find something more worthwhile to rebel against.

Are you making an unsuccessful attempt at humor, or have you just entirely missed the point?
Clue: it ain't about cheap corn flakes.

Absolutely. I understand that. Just making the point that, contrary to the protests, I imagine quite a few of the residents will be over the moon with the idea that their crappy flat will quadruple* in value in the next few years.

Indeed, though as Ernie says, they still have to live somewhere. The really happy ones will be the landlords who will see their rents sky rocket without having to do a thing.

Funny old thing social mobility isn't it?

Sounds like a good thing, but turns out people really want everything to stay the same.

Not sure that putting up poor people's rent to middle class levels represents social mobility.

Cereal Killer was probably targeted due to the fact previous media attention would guarantee the protest appeared on the news. Attacking a bank is pointless, high street branches are insured and the banks would rather be without them anyway. I blame Harry Enfield for the "[url=

saw you coming[/url]" sketch for promoting the idea that overcharging adds value.

Frankly, if you're protesting that the opening of a cereal shop is evidence of creeping gentrification you're probably at least 5 years too late.

I'm going out on a limb here as I don't know the area but I'm betting that off-licenses nearby probably sell bottles of whiskey and wine that are many times more expensive than 2ltrs of Strongbow, and probably sell cigars that are the equivalent to the cost of a packet of fags.

I don't think the anti-gentrification crowd would have much support if they started trashing offies. The hipster cereal bar is an easy target as it represents a lot societies ills, but for this mob to decide what people can and can't spend their money on is fascism.

Funny old thing social mobility isn't it?
Sounds like a good thing, but turns out people really want everything to stay the same.

People want social mobility when it is them being mobile, what they don't want is for them to be stood still whilst all around them (and in this case, their area) move upwards.

The hipster cereal bar is an easy target as it represents a lot societies ills, but for this mob to decide what people can and can't spend their money on is fascism.

Whatever are they thinking about? A strongly worded posting to their favourite mountain biking website will surely bring everyone to their senses!

People want social mobility when it is them being mobile, what they don't want is for them to be stood still whilst all around them (and in this case, their area) move upwards

They won't be stood still though. They'll be evicted.

footflaps - Member
Just a bunch of thugs out looking for an excuse to vandalise something and picked on the cereal guys because they are a bit new.

Certainly the point IMO.

Having been around "this place" for a few years now, certainly in the last 3 years that Brick Lane place has changed dramatically... for the better.
It really used to be one grotty street with a few shonky clothes stores and about 40 curry houses, all with blokes hanging around outside and harassing you to go in.. bloody horrible, certainly not "trendy".

As the whole of the area became the place to be and hang out, pop-ups appeared in run down low rent closed down shops and voila! trendy place... Property shot up in value, the chain stores have moved in and it's all going the way of a trendy village theme, almost a parody of itself.

I'm rather glad TBH. Folks taking care and pride in where they live and how they decide to work, looks far cleaner, tidier, more bloody civilized.

And so a bunch of drunken tossers, not even locals, start a fight with a vendor selling cereal...

You really couldn't make this thing up.

London is going through the same process and the 'hipsters' lead the charge, they make the unpalatable 'cool' and 'cool' makes cheap expensive in months not years and with most poor residents renting it means communities are wiped out when rents double or more.

As you say it has been happening for decades, the hipsters are merely a very identifiable grouping in one area, a successor to the Sloane Rangers regenerating Clapham and Battersea in the 80s.

Commercial property prices are restricting social mobility, it is virtually impossible to open a retail establishment in London (or most major towns and cities) with just an idea and the fabled work ethic, it is really just dominated by people already cash rich and established businesses increasing their share.

Gentification? That happened in the 1980s and 90s.
What's happening in London now is not gentrification. Thanks to crazy neo-liberal economics, London has allowed its housing stock to become a reserve currency for the globalist uber-rich and their offspring.
Why Londoners put up with it, I don't know, but then again the show-of-force during the London riots and incredibly harsh jail sentences probably put most people off standing up for themselves.
Why anyone puts up with this crazy economic situation, infact, is very depressing.
Things the other 99 percent should take to the streets over:
- the bank bailouts
- Quantitative Easing
- mass immigration and the transformation of us all into a servant class again
- continued political interference in the housing market through things like help to buy
- overpriced cereal
Right, back to my servitude.

Why Londoners put up with it, I don't know, but then again the show-of-force during the London riots and incredibly harsh jail sentences probably put most people off standing up for themselves.

Standing up with a TV on their backs, if you can't make your point without smashing windows and stealing stuff before burning down random businesses including those that did loads for the local community then you probably shouldn't bother.

I'm no fan of looting either, but even as right wing a person has Peter Hitchens has said that some of the jail sentences handed out were way over the top. The political class is heavily invested in all things London and this was reflected in the sentences, one poor chap got 9 years just for nicking a telly!

[quote=badnewz said]one poor chap got 9 years just for nicking a telly!

Sauce ?

one poor chap got 9 years just for nicking a telly!

Better be careful, badnewz:

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/aug/16/uk-riots-four-years-disorder-facebook

Ah, can always rely on the Mash....

[url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/furious-mob-targets-mildly-annoying-thing-20150928102381 ]slightly annoying thing[/url]

As far as I'm concerned, British Anarchy is an idiots solution to an intellectual problem.

Scaffy faux-anti-establishment scum puddles.

but then again the show-of-force during the London riots and incredibly harsh jail sentences probably put most people off standing up for themselves.

You're right, what we need to really sort out society for the better is more cereal cafes trashed by thieving scum....

London's economy will get ruined if we don't get on top of the price of houses and rents - this kind of shop is just emblematic of those with money pushing everyone else out to the detriment of local communities and the city as a whole - and all the jobs and taxes it produces..
The implications are really serious - we appear to already be losing ambulance drivers, teachers and potentially doctors as living costs push above earnings.
Brixton Cycles is getting pushed out of their premises to be replaced by luxury flats for e.g. There goes a well-established business providing jobs... they should get a new site but it's really not a great strategy to deprioritise successful local businesses like this.
The super-rich have pushed everyone else out of central London into zones 2 and 3 which is now pushing the less-well paid out of London entirely. Even well-paid professionals are pretty much priced out. let alone the low paid.
The long term outlook for the London economy is not healthy...
I don't support violence but I can understand the sentiment and desire to protest... same as the smashing in of Foxtons in Brixton earlier this year...
Most people I know in London want this situation to change - born and bred Londoners, home-owners with and without kids, renters - we all understand the damage being done... and we'd all rather have lower living costs than chi-chi shops like this.
Anyway - niche shops like that only have a finite lifetime and market - there's not enough people with the money and will to buy premium food over the long term - and with another downturn/bust(?) on the way and a lot of people in London having to spend so much on accommodation, I suspect a lot of these chi-chi shops will be gone in 2-3 years...

this kind of shop is just emblematic of those with money pushing everyone else out to the detriment of local communities and the city as a whole - and all the jobs and taxes it produces..

Rubbish. They don't own the shop, just rent.

They pay market rate for the shop and take a big personal risk starting a new business. If they guess the market right, they'll make a profit and if not they'll go bust, just like any other shop.

Harassing independent traders doesn't even come close to addressing housing problems in London.

this kind of shop is just emblematic of those with money pushing everyone else out

As mentioned the protestors are just cowardly bullies venting their anger on the easiest target.

Harassing independent traders doesn't even come close to addressing housing problems in London.

this. As one of the cereal guys pointed out, there's also a Pret A Manger on the street. A multinational chain that turns over half a billion a year.

Which, it would seem, is perfectly fine with the protesters...

Cereal cafes and the like are a [i]symptom[/i] of gentrification. They don't own property, they don't set the rent, and as has been pointed out, if no-one wants to spend £4 on a bowl of foreign cereal they'll be gone within months.

They might just have a thing about beards? Maybe on hygiene grounds?

Anyone one unhappy with gentrification , please can you send the people trying to improve your area my way? I will replace them 2 for 1 with chav scum trying to drive area on a continual downward spiral.

They might just have a thing about beards?

Now that I can understand (or tattoos).

Whose up for lynching the local tattoo parlour as a direct way of complaining about government economic policy over the last 20 years?

Whilst I can see the issues with property price inflation in London, I can't see the mentality that would lead people to do this.

Squatting? All moving somewhere cheaper in line with free market ideals and seeing how the super rich cope with no one to clean their bogs/cook their food/staff their hospitals and schools? Opening up a rival business to milk the rich and feeble minded? All would work. This just makes people look silly.

Not actually true though is it? It isn't rich people who frequent places like this - it's trendy young people who are probably as skint as everyone else!

They pay market rate for the shop and take a big personal risk starting a new business. If they guess the market right, they'll make a profit and if not they'll go bust, just like any other shop.

Paying a market rent just means you have to have money in the first place to start a business, there is no evidence that they have taken any kind of risk. In fact few business launchers really take much of a risk, they just have the means to do it. For most with the means starting a business is less risk than changing jobs for the average employee.

All moving somewhere cheaper in line with free market ideals and seeing how the super rich cope with no one to clean their bogs/cook their food/staff their hospitals and schools?

You're joking, right? How is that working so far? Mostly with people suffering increasingly impossible commutes and their places being taken by even more desperate immigrants. But hey, the "free market" can't be wrong, can it?

In fact few business launchers really take much of a risk, they just have the means to do it. For most with the means starting a business is less risk than changing jobs for the average employee.

Rubbish. Most small businesses entail a large financial outlay by the owners, all of which they lose if they go bust. In the case of the cereal shop, they will have most likely taken out a loan (probably guaranteed by equity in a house), to cover:

1. Shop rental contract (min 1 year) - probably something like £30k
2. Shop refit costs (say £10k)
3. Running costs (rates, leccy, heat, supplies) say £4-5k a month (rates will be £2-3k)

All of which they have to pay up regardless of whether the sell a single bowl of cereal.

If they flopped, they'd be down about £50k minimum.

In fact few business launchers really take much of a risk, they just have the means to do it.

Absolutely, that's why so few fail- only about 50% close within the first 5 years.

Whose up for lynching the local tattoo parlour as a direct way of complaining about government economic policy over the last 20 years?

Shame they only arrested one of them, should have thrown them all in jail for a few weeks...

If they flopped, they'd be down about £50k minimum.

Not much of a risk for someone with a few hundred k in the bank.

Absolutely, that's why so few fail- only about 50% close within the first 5 years.

The level of risk has nothing to do with their competence or if it is a good idea.

Dunno about that, but I suspect it's not frequented by the local people who are using food banks.

You're right probably not, but the cereal cafe isn't the cause of inequality, in fact absolutely nothing to do with it. They spotted a gap in the market, took a punt and seem to be doing OK.

The reason we have massive inequality in the UK is because people keep voting for political parties which champion inequality. Blaming a cereal shop is just moronic beyond comprehension.

I don't understand this either.

Everyone other town is full of an identical range of shops, Next, Debenhams, McDonalds, Nandos, they all look the same.

These huge chains with large amounts of money behind them are surely a far bigger barrier to social mobility because they buy up prime land, pay the minimum wage to their employees (which gets topped up with benefits) and make it very difficult for small businesses to compete. It's even worse when they start to evade corporation tax too (didn't Vodafone do this?)

Not much of a risk for someone with a few hundred k in the bank.

I very much doubt the owners do have a few hundred k in the bank, most small shop owners don't.

Everyone other town is full of an identical range of shops, Next, Debenhams, McDonalds, Nandos, they all look the same.

I'm guessing it's the beards and tattoos which make them stand out a bit more. The irony is, if they really wanted to complain about inequality they should head to Downing Street, not pick on someone selling coco-pops...

The reason we have massive inequality in the UK is because people keep voting for political parties which champion inequality. Blaming a cereal shop is just moronic beyond comprehension.

I agree with that somewhat, but I'm not sure people are blaming them as the CAUSE of the inequality, but rather as people who are happy to benefit from it, and to play a part in perpetuating it.

I very much doubt the owners do have a few hundred k in the bank, most small shop owners don't.

Traditionally not, but with current property prices and rentals, most new launchers will have considerable finances. That is what is happening with the "gentrification", It isn't the hard working and the ideas people who are setting up these shops, it is the people with existing wealth.

Traditionally not, but with current property prices and rentals, most new launchers will have considerable finances.

Not at all.

The people who benefit from property prices and rentals are the landlords who can up the rates every year. The shop owners don't see any benefit from this and have to keep upping prices to break even.

most new launchers will have considerable finances

Nope, mainly debt. If they read the market wrong, they lose everything and / or end up bankrupt.

but I'm not sure people are blaming them as the CAUSE of the inequality, but rather as people who are happy to benefit from it, and to play a part in perpetuating it.

That's just nonsense. They're just running a small business, like any other. They provide a service, pay salaries, buy materials, consume local services i.e. circulate money in the local economy. They're not benefiting from inequality any more than any one else. They're as much victim as anyone else, their rent and rates will have gone up as well as labour costs. The only person who really benefits is the landlord.

I think it helps to understand if you've ever lived in the area. For years and years Brick Lane and Spitalfields have been very poor, very working class, and actually rammed full of immigrants - Huguenots, Jews and recently Bangladesh. Bethnal Green was the territory of the Krays.

It's basically been taken over/invaded by the middle-classes over the last 10 years. I should know, I used to live there! Spitalfields was the fruit and veg market for years - a crucial part of the local economy, providing jobs in a poor part of town. That was regenerated in the early noughties and Brick Lane followed. Yes, the areas are far nicer, less crime, cleaner etc, but the indigenous local communities who used to live and work there and had their roots there have been pushed out by 'outsiders' - the middle classes and the corporates - the area is rammed full of chi chi shops - coffee bars, bars, bakeries etc etc. The Brick Lane Bagel Bakery is one of the few local businesses which seems to have survived this influx of money.

So as I said above, I don't support violence but it's worth reflecting on how the local, established population might feel about how it feels to be pushed out of their homes. When you speak to local businesspeople about these things, you realise how much damage it's doing.

This is happening at a wider scale across London, to the detriment of jobs and the cost of living which is already having an impact on essential services like ambulance drivers, doctors and teachers.

A bit of chi chi and regeneration is not a bad thing for some, but it is for others...

Blaming a cereal shop is just moronic beyond comprehension.

Still, it's generated two pages of debate among 39 people on a mtb forum. I don't know if everyone else in the world has completely ignored the story and the issues it's raised but assuming that perhaps they haven't, the publicity it's raised doesn't seem a bad result for something which is moronic beyond comprehension.

That is what is happening with the "gentrification", It isn't the hard working and the ideas people who are setting up these shops, it is the people with existing wealth.

If you were talking about Hedge Funds or Private Equity expanding a £100m chain like Pret or Pizza Express then yes, you might have a point. But a a pair of independent cereal shops run by a couple of tattooed hippies?

The Tories have really worked their magic on you. They can completely screw over society and yet have people blaming each other for it.

the publicity it's raised doesn't seem a bad result for something which is moronic beyond comprehension.

Although sadly the conclusion appears to be that inequality is all the fault of hipsters and if we just lynch them we can end world poverty.

So, I'm not too hopeful.

The Tories have really worked their magic on you. They can completely screw over society and yet have people blaming each other for it.

LOL

It seems a bizarre thing to go picking on. A £3.20 bowl of cereal sounds a lot, but it's something I, as someone who earns below the average national salary and flipping loves cereal, wouldn't begrudge paying as a treat. In the same way people will go out for a meal as at treat. Or buy a cake as a treat. I suspect there are restaurants and bakeries across Camden that are also a little expensive- it doesn't mean they are directly responsible for Camden becoming unaffordable because the prices are going up and the wages aren't.

I've been very generous and googled the address of where they ought to have gone protesting, at a place where the blame for a lack of growth, low wages and rising property prices thanks to the wallets of foreign millionaires and tax breaks for wealthy friends can squarely be pointed.

http://www.hampsteadandkilburn.org/contact-us

Oh, and has that area actually been gentrified? I visited it a couple of years ago and it was absolutely horrible. Dirty, a bit scary, ugly and busy. Why don't the protesters come up to the north, live in a nicer house and vote Corbyn like most decent people? I'd be pretty grateful to be priced out of Camden and end up living in Yorkshire.

Pointless trying to justify the action of the protesters.

The hipsters should just install Alien Sentry Guns ... 😮

The living cost in all mega cities is expensive so whether the protesters like it or not they cannot prevent it forever. Trying to turn a corner of London into a slump dwelling will simply not happen as the land/property price is just too good for profit.

I'd be pretty grateful to be priced out of Camden and end up living in Yorkshire.

Me too except
1) my job is close to Camden and a long way from Yorkshire
2) pricing people out by putting up the rent is not actually much of a favour

Although sadly the conclusion appears to be that inequality is all the fault of hipsters and if we just lynch them we can end world poverty.

Can you not see why this particular cafe might, to some, seem like an emblem* of the crass, middle-class consumerism which they see as damaging their community? It possibly doesn't help that the owners have been in the news before being dismissive of the concerns of residents.

*Not necessarily the worst offender in the world but an eyecatching and galvanising one.

There is a shake chain in Newcastle, was down the west end, and metro centre, where they charge to put various chocolate bars or snacks into a blender with milk.

Nobody has protested against them, and they make lovely shakes but cost a fortune in comparison to buying a pint of milk, and chewing up a mars bar while drinking.

Same idea as buying cereal but without the protests.

I don't really get it, if you don't want to buy the service or product don;'t. Saying that, being off your tits at 6am and being able to buy a bowl of easily stomachable cereal is a great idea.