Local shopping

[alison]

I didn't really want to start a new thread for this, but we don't seem to have a terribly relevant one, so here goes:

 

In this time when people probably don't want to go into major town/city centres for "non-essential" shopping, and are being encouraged to shop locally, I thought it might be a nice idea to highlight a few "jewels" in your local(ish) area.  So I'll start with Wimbledon, having made a recent trip there.

 

Have a look at the top floor of the "Centre Court" shopping centre, right next to the station.  There's an arty shop, a very nice-looking "smellies" shop, a pop-up "artisan marketplace", and my favourite of all, a shop called "Fayre and Square", a shop selling crafted goods (again, very nicely made, the ones I looked at) in aid of a charity aimed at getting people into work and/or finding an outlet for their skills/talents.  I wanted to buy up a considerable amount of their stock, and it was very reasonably priced, so would make good stocking fillers at this time of year.  Unfortunately, F&S has only very limited opening hours, so you'd need to aim for around lunchtime.

 

Any other recommendations?

[alison]

Hmm, this thread didn't get anywhere last Christmas, but, having been to Wimbledon the other day, I thought I'd resurrect and update it.  Unfortunately, the artisan marketplace has been converted into a vaccination centre, but the others are all there still.  The "smellies" shop (which is a pop-up, and only there until just before Christmas) is now on the ground floor, close to Boots.  Fayre and Square has significantly extended its opening hours, but is still dependent on volunteers to man it.

 

There was also a banner up saying that there is some sort of Christmas market on Saturdays, and also Fridays close to Christmas.  I guess that's probably in the "square" outside Morrisons and the Odeon, given that Wimbledon isn't best set out for public spaces.

 

While I'm in the area, the local (?)National Trust property (is it Morden Hall?  It's a short walk from Phipps Bridge tram stop) used to have a nice gift shop and garden centre.  I hope it still does.