It’s all change up at central parade as one set of incubator unit tenants have moved out and a new set have moved in. The magnificent festival style building on Hoe Street has four of these small shop units, and the tenants change every six months. Previous residents have included artist Emma Scutt, Pour L’amour Wedding Gowns, Look Up Prints, and Bloom of the Block. The new residents, who will call Central Parade home until June, are a pretty mixed bunch. There’s hand made soap, plants, candles, a gift shop, and a very friendly dog.
The dog was working in unit 4, which is now home to succulence, sellers of all things plant related. I can’t remember what the dog was called, but if its job description included tail wagging and being rubbed, then it was excelling in its chosen career. The dogs human companion also seems to be excelling in the world of green fingered retail. The shop is packed with cacti, foliage pants, beautiful concrete pots, and air plants. Blimey, air plants, remember them? They were all the rage when I was a kid and seem to be rising in popularity again. Before you know it, macrame hanging baskets will be back in fashion.
Next door to the plant selling dog is the Simple Candle Company, selling candles that are hand-made right here in E17. And the unit closest to the front the door is now home to The Every Space, which sells all kinds of gifts including books, toys, cards and, wait, are they macrame pot hangers! See, I told you they would be back in fashion. I’m totally predicting interior design trends here. There’s a lot packed in to The Every Space, so if you go in, make sure you have a good old poke around to see what they stock
Soapsmith is the last of the new tenants, and as the name may suggest, they specialise in handmade soap, bath bombs, scrubs, and all things that make you smell good. Sam, who runs Soapsmith, makes everything that she sells right here in her Walthamstow workshop. Her soaps are all named after parts of London. There’s a Walthamstow Soap, Baker Street, Lavender Hill and Brick Lane Soap. There’s also a coffee body scrub made in collaboration with Perky Blenders Coffee, which smells absolutely incredible. In fact, everything I stuck my nose in to smells incredible.
Meanwhile Space, the company who manage Central Parade are due to hand the building back to the council this year, so in theory these are the last set of tenants in the incubator units. But, things have changed since Meanwhile space moved in. Central Parade was at one point going to be demolished, but the building is now listed so should be safe. Does that mean that Meanwhile space will stay? Who knows. I hope it continues as it is, but I guess I’ll have to wait and see what happens. In the mean time though, I’m glad a new set of local businesses can use the space as another step on their route to world domination. Check out the Central Parade site for more info, or even better, pop in and have a look.
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