Change language
Actions
Displays
Remove from selection
Add to selection
Abstract

Starbucks says it is bringing eight new jobs and more customers to Archway’s “thriving coffee community” as the chain giant prepares to open a new shop in the iconic building that was once home to The Lion pub.

The Lion, located in a prime spot opposite the tube station, closed in 2014 and has been undergoing redevelop­ment, with Starbucks intending to open a new coffee shop there at the end of this month. It comes just weeks after Coffee Republic, another chain, opened an outlet in Junction Road, opposite Costa, which opened three years ago, sparking concerns over the future of independent shops.

The Lion was the subject of an unsuccessful attempt by the Better Archway Forum to be listed as an Asset of Community Value last year in order to keep the building functioning as a boozer.

Kate Calvert, of the Better Archway Forum, said: “I genuinely don’t understand why it didn’t get listed. I don’t think anybody is very impressed. Of course, the building will get used, but we now have three chain coffee shops in Junction Road.

“That money no longer goes into the community. When it was a pub the money was recycled into the community, but with chains that’s not the case.”

Asked whether she believed independent shops in the area would survive in the long term, Ms Calvert added: “It might be OK, if devel­opers of the big site in the middle [next to Archway tube station] will get a big supermarket there. I think if that happens, at that point the high street will be quite damaged. But money talks.”

Archway town centre has undergone a huge transformation in recent years. The new Premier Inn hotel in Highgate Hill has opened and private renters are expected to move into the revamped 17-storey Archway Tower within months.

A Starbucks spokes­woman said: “The store is scheduled to launch 31st May and open seven days a week, bring­ing around eight jobs to the local community.

“The borough of Islington is a thriving coffee community, and the opening of Starbucks in Archway aims to bring more customers to the high street.”