In Praise of Small Shops

R.G. Lewis, originally uploaded by bjmurphy234.

In these days of corporate imperialism, where every highstreet in every corner of the Western World is tending toward a scary amount of homogeneity I increasingly find myself cherishing those last bastions of individuality and good service. I was reminded of that this week when I received a 'phone call from R. G. Lewis, a camera shop in London, to whom I'd taken two pieces of camera kit for either modification or repair. Not only was the repair work done quickly and to a very high standard but the expense was reasonable and the personal service fantastic.

When I walked into the shop, the assistant recognised me from when I'd brought the camera in a week previously and so had no trouble finding my stuff. I'd been so impressed by R. G. Lewis' collective attitude that I'd bought my current camera from them at the end of last year. Having been to the other Leica shop in London where they'd been very snooty and extremely patronising to Tinseltroos, even though she has a masters in engineering and I am a dumb artist, I'd decided that the thought of handing over a lot of money (many, many weekends worth of overtime) to them felt wrong so it was lovely when I discovered Lewis's and they were so good and pleasant to deal with.

Here then is a little, very incomplete, list of shops in London that are a pleasure to spend money in and are a celebration of independent retailing:

R. G. Lewis
Les Senteurs
William Rose Family Butchers
Gosh Comics
Bates the Hatter
Pretty Traditional Greengrocer
The Neals Yard Dairy
Old Hat
Treadwells Bookshop
Peter Cook's Guitar World