You may remember the old Elephant & Castle shopping centre, an ugly 1960s warren filled with lowly businesses that served the community.
Pound stores when a pound actually bought you something, food from Poland and Latin America, inexpensive homewares, market stalls selling trinkets and stockings, tiny units selling hair fashions (aka wigs and straighteners), the formica tables of Jenny's Burgers, a daily 'Food Market', somewhere to get your photocopying done, DIY from Pricebusters, Stella's sequin emporium, £1.50 espressos, an Aladdin's cave of phonecases, authentic empanadas, halal tandoori, every kind of hat, and up the escalator Palace Bingo and Bowling, an affordable night out, a true melting pot, somewhere to shop and hang out, a retail village under striplights at the very heart of the Elephant.
I can't say there were no big chains because there was a Tesco Metro and a Co-op, also a Peacocks, the very barometer of affordable fashion, also a Clarks factory shop for those who merely wanted shoes rather than statements, but generally these were independent traders en masse in an increasingly unloved stacked mall providing employment for and service to everyday people.
The shopping centre closed in July 2020, long run down and already substantially emptied, in preparation for the wrecking ball and the arrival of cranes, a companion demolition to the neighbouring Heygate estate whose Brutalist walkways and smashed windows had already been replaced by the fresh flats of Elephant Park, a blatant gentrification landgrab by Southwark council, a different kind of soulless, its concierged shoeboxes surrounding artificial gardens laughably desribed as parkland.
Many decanted traders were relocated to a ribbed timber structure packed with micro retail units, potentially temporary but permitting the continuation of trade for beauty salons and Caribbean takeaways from the old place, at least until rent increases or failing footfall kicked them out, the writing already on the wall round the corner where new restaurants offered Italian, Japanese and 'small plates & grill', somewhere to graze and brunch, also maker spaces in Insta-friendly sheds, all with patronage from next-gens who wouldn't have dreamt of browsing hereabouts previously.
And now once again all change.
Yesterday the new Elephant & Castle shopping centre opened its doors, or rather cut its tape because this mall's outside, same place but no roof, a looping piazza surrounded by apartment towers.
They sent Percy Pig to open it, the anchor tenant being M&S Food, a queue round the block before ribbon-cutting at eight, in they poured, still pouring in at lunchtime, chicken wraps and poke bowls, hummus and pickybits, the interior supposedly "market-style" but just looks like shelves, and outside a giant inflatable Percy, its arms tied down with pink sandbags, quite the talking point, "thank god we can buy nice things here now".
Opposite is Mango for sophisticated outfits and accessories, ideally beige, then round the corner Søstrene Grene, a Danish homeware shop simply taking advantage, then opposite obviously Oliver Bonas, the very epitome of an unnecessary shop, all lifestyle goods and spur-of-the-moment giftables, you know your local population has cash potential when an Oliver Bonas turns up to siphon off their disposable income, another glass bowl for the cupboard, another influencer cookbook for the shelf, they wouldn't have spat on the previous shopping centre but here they are at the heart of the new, a defining presence.
As for standard chains Starbucks was a slamdunk, Pret A Manger was baked in, and Superdrug is the sole offer for those of more limited means, yes you can still get toothpaste and toilet rolls at The Elephant but the smellies might be selling better, and hang on is that it, the opening selection's pretty thin, the map of the mall has been padded out with half a dozen shops yet to open, these empty shells including Office for branded shoes, anything but Clarks, also a botoxmonger called Injectual, not health but wellness, "the first 50 to book receive a complimentary year of icon membership", also hot drink dispensers to cover all bases - one berry-based, one oriental chai - lest anyone pass through the development without a cup in their hand, heaven forfend.
There is an upstairs, its yellow escalator appearing tempting but if you risk the ascent it takes you to an upper level where as yet bugger all is trading, an exorbitant Everyman Cinema waiting to pounce, a food market taking shape behind glass doors, coming soon 14 Authentic Kitchens Serving Authentic Dishes, this the honeytrap to encourage sticky footfall, packed with long tables and laptop space, "where food becomes a shared story", "bringing people together through bold flavours and spaces that spark connection", basically a few bowls of brothy ramen and nibbling your friend's katsu, basically a social life for Gen Zs and millennials, that's opening later in the month and then this place truly takes off, if twice the price of anything offered by the previous tenants.
Hate this.
Whatever marketing team they've got sloganising the place needs locking up, merely reading the walls can bring on a fit of deep-seated bile, A Home For Gatherings & Good Vibes, Where Worlds Meet, Live In The Moment, Live More London, Be A Part Of London's New Chapter, Flavours Pop, Art Goes Bold, Drums Beat, Stories Unfold, this is what an English degree gets you these days, a job pumping out word salad on the walls of lifestyle developments, and not just the walls have you read the website, sheesh the website.
🐘 Easy to find. Hard to forget.
🐘 A canvas for experiential retail.
🐘 Contrasts, collisions, chance discoveries.
🐘 A melting pot of food, music and creative energy.
🐘 A convergence point for culture, commerce and community.
🐘 London’s newest destination for shopping, dining, work, wellness, entertainment and culture.
🐘 The Elephant’s more than a destination, it’s a neighbourhood.
🐘 Come worship at yet another identikit Temple of Brands.
🐘 Not that last one, I made that up.
Admittedly they've got footfall sewn up, a new tube entrance opening in 2028, a captive audience pouring past nothing it needs, also a new entrance to the Thameslink station, signed but not yet open, also a tower of students ready to dodge work by hanging out in the food hall, meanwhile the last of the traders from the old place eke out a living on the wrong side of the viaduct where business is about to be sucked dry by this new retail magnet, you can't argue with an M&S Food and fast fashion.
If you'd not seen the old place you might think this an excellent new hub and hangout, if you had seen the old place you might think it a vast improvement, I have seen the old place and I wonder where the old clientele went, have they really ceased to exist or have they simply been displaced, who thought them no longer worth supporting, why the re-pitch upmarket, there is zero overlap between the old Elephant and the new, gentrification switchover now effectively complete, a displacement of those without funds in favour of those with, from independent traders to the hottest brands, and would you like a bag of Percy Pigs with that?
You do not need to come to The Elephant, it's a generic skyscraperfoot mall, a high street without the useful bits, a day out for those with no imagination, but come they will, one half conveniently forgetting the other half exists.
