Part 2: London’s traditional and specialist shops
Part 2: London’s traditional and specialist shops
15 more shops + a map
Hello and welcome to Wooden City, a newsletter about London.
If you haven’t come here via @caffs_not_cafes, I'm a writer called Isaac Rangaswami and this is my Substack.
Every other week I publish an article about everyday places in London with unusual staying power, like shops, buildings, restaurants and public spaces.
Wooden City is a reader-supported publication and paid subscribers get much more. This includes access to maps, full articles and an archive of material covering over 150 places so far.
This is part two of my specialist shops guide, which has 15 more entries and a map. For the introduction and the first 10 shops, check out part one.
Central London
D. R. Harris & Co.
Along with its suits, cigars and ruddy-faced men, clubland has a high density of wildly historical shops, many of which are aimed at the people in this high income bracket. I am less interested in the hat, gun, shoe, suit, perfume, tobacco and claret sellers in St James’s, though it’s hard to hate on the cheese shop, which I plan to write about separately.
I’m into this old-timey chemist too, because it’s more accessible. It has the same marble, wood panelling and posh carpeting as those other fancy stores, but it seems more normal because it dispenses prescriptions and sells things like tampons and blister plasters. There are also primitive toothbrushes, time-honoured drawers and even a sink. The business, which was founded in 1790, is also remarkably well air-conditioned, and smells like the own-brand aftershave it sells.
29 St James's St, London SW1A 1HD
MacCulloch & Wallis
There is something deeply noble about being the go-to place for a specific thing. James Smith & Sons sells umbrellas, the Cornelissens sells paintbrushes and MacCulloch & Wallis is all about haberdashery. I don’t need any shears, crochet hooks and tapestry skeins, so when I went recently, I found myself mainly observing the customers, many of whom wear cool glasses and clothes with interesting pleats. The “new” store on Poland Street may not be as old as the one this 122-year-old business used to occupy, but it still has far more soul than anywhere else this close to Oxford Circus.
25-26 Poland St, London W1F 8QN
Embassy Electrical Supplies
I first came across Embassy Electrical Supplies after eating a sandwich at Scotti’s, but I thought it was just an electrical store with a great acrylic plastic sign. It wasn’t until later that I discovered what basically every other Londoner seems to know: this place sells olive oil. As is often the case, The Gentle Author already has everything you need to know about its electrician proprietor and the produce from his farms in Cyprus and Turkey. There are dried morels and candied baby aubergines too, and you can still buy electrical supplies – desk fans, soldering irons, carbon monoxide alarms – here as well.
69 Compton St, London EC1V 0BN