An upscale bakery chain that is known to many Londoners as “Gregg’s for posh people” is at the centre of the latest gentrification row to hit the city.
Local residents in Walthamstow in the northeast of London have started a petition against a planned new store by Gail’s, a chain famous for its expensive sourdough and cinnamon rolls. Its opponents say the new store would threaten local businesses and hurt the area’s “character and charm”.
So far, so typical of the gentrification rows that have played out all over London’s east end in recent years.
This one is different, however. The area where Gail’s wants to open, leafy Orford Road in Walthamstow village, is already heavily gentrified, its original working-class community having been long-since ousted by middle-class arrivals paying seven-figure sums for old council houses.
Instead, many of the well-to-do critics of the planned new Gail’s outlet cite the brand’s Israeli roots in the context of the war in Gaza, as well as the pro-Brexit and anti-woke views of its outspoken chairman, serial investor Luke Johnson, who used to be the chairman of Pizza Express.
Meanwhile, many of the local artisan businesses that the petition’s organisers want to protect from Gail’s are themselves relatively recent replacements for the original local businesses that catered to the area when it was a working-class stronghold, before its middle-class takeover.
“We don’t need a Gail’s here,” said one local opponent of the chain. “We have lots of local independent coffee shops around, especially ones that are not complicit in [Israel’s war in Gaza].”
Gail’s is financially backed by UK institutions and is no longer owned by its Israeli co-founder, Gail Mejia. The company has said it is not linked to any country other than Britain and has no connection with what is going on in Israel or Gaza.
Walthamstow is in the London postcode of E17 – the local area famously was the home of the 1990s hip-hop boy band East 17, Take That’s grittier rival. The area’s culturally diverse and modest character is still apparent in its High Street and Central Parade districts, which have not yet been gentrified and contain many of the ubiquitous commercial outlets found on most British high streets.
Walthamstow Village, a short walk from the High Street, is different. This upscale enclave contains only independent shops, such as the local Village Bakery and artisan coffee shops and boutiques.
On Monday, work seemed to be well advanced on the new, large double-fronted Gail’s outlet that is planned for Orford Road, next door to the constituency offices of Labour MP Stella Creasy.
Local resident James Harvey, who started the petition, claimed Gail’s “risks overshadowing our much-loved local stores due to their massive scale and advertising reach”.
“It’s about protecting the unique identity of our community. It’s about choosing inclusive growth, preserving diversity and creating equitable and sustainable local economies,” he said.
Some of the signatories to the petition, however, have singled out Johnson’s involvement in Gail’s for particular ire, suggesting he is a “Zionist mogul”. Johnson has previously criticised “woke” protests on UK university campuses and has also praised Israel’s economy.
Gail’s, meanwhile, continues to grow at pace. It currently has 130 outlets, the majority of which are centred around London and its leafy outskirts.
The chain’s reputation for appealing to upscale customers has previously leaked into the political sphere. In the recent UK general election, the Liberal Democrats were said to have thrown more canvassing resources into towns in southeast England’s so-called Blue Wall if the areas had a Gail’s outlet, which some party supporters dubbed its “challah wall” strategy, after the Jewish bread.
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