Ritika Janiya
Residents of Walthamstow, East London, are demonstrating against the arrival of the upmarket bakery chain Gail’s. It is believed to kick off a fight by which so many of their best-loved independent shops could be under threat. The debate on gentrification and political persuasions stirs arguments between old and new in this once gritty borough now crowded with trendy spots.
It was only a few years ago that I had a mix-up, which brought me to Walthamstow, a place I had heard of so much but never really visited. I had left my phone in the taxi one night and lost it. I just gave up all hopes of getting it back. Much to my surprise, a friendly voice answered the call and told me that I would get it back the next day in Walthamstow.
The reputation of Walthamstow wasn’t that great back in the 1970s. It was a place for Arthur Daley characters or Del Boy from sitcoms to frequent. Basically, East 17, and my only visit, back in the 1980s, had left an impression of a rather rough area.
So, going back for my phone, I was taken aback; Walthamstow had been transformed. It was full of friendly middle-class people, boutique shops, and posh markets selling organic beef and honey. It literally seemed to become the epitome of gentrification.
But now a new buzz has hit town. Residents have been left incensed by the planned opening of a plush bakery chain called Gail’s. A petition started by resident James Harvey argues that Gail’s will threaten the local, independent businesses which make Walthamstow unique. As the petition says, Walthamstow Village is known for its interesting, family-run shops, and one big chain like Gail’s could ruin that.
It’s a bit too little, too late, some argue. After all, area house prices have risen by 101 percent in the past decade, and it’s now full of fashionable ‘hipsters’ sporting fancy haircuts and designers dogs. Now, complaining about new businesses is rather odd, considering the neighborhood has changed in so many other ways already.
This, in turn, might partly cause all the fuss—that and the fact that the owner of Gail’s is one Luke Johnson, a very well-known businessman and right-wing man, matters quite a bit to some people. Johnson has indeed been quite vocal about quite a few issues concerning lockdowns and climate change. It seems his political views are now being used to morally indict this bakery, but it remains a business at the end of the day.
Adding to the drama, Walthamstow was recently mentioned in some wild claims about “far-right” groups planning riots. The local MP, Stella Creasy, held a big rally protesting these supposed threats, though nothing major came off. Palestinian flags and political banners abounded at the event that was supposed to show support for peace and harmony.
The whole situation in Walthamstow has come to be a real debate over just what type of neighborhood people want. On one side, you have local folk who want their individually unique shops and to avoid really big chains. However, others see all these changes as completely inevitable and probably even for the better.
In the midst of this, Gail’s Bakery became a storm—very little to do with the bakery and everything to do with bigger issues of gentrification and politics. On paper, the arrival of that chain sounds like just a tiny change, but it has been seized upon as a metaphor for the broader shifts sweeping through Walthamstow.
So, what’s really going on in Walthamstow? It is new and old combined, with some long-term residents unable to swallow just how far their area has really changed. At the same time, the arrival of Gail’s may be merely the newest flashpoint in a much more sweeping and amorphous debate about community identity and gentrification.
The protest against Gail’s isn’t about the bakery at all; it’s about the larger idea of how neighborhoods change and people feel about those changes. It foregrounds the collision of local businesses, political views, and community values in ways that shouldn’t surprise anybody.
The real question at the end may well be: Can Walthamstow balance retaining her unique character with embracing new changes that come her way?
