The new Bakery in Blackheath is going to be a massive success, if today’s footfall was anything to judge by. Having taken up the space that India Jane left empty, the place was totally heaving by 11:30 today. I counted at least 6 buggies being dragged up and down the steps. I can’t understand why they would put steps in rather than a ramp, as the place seems to be a total push chair magnet right now.
Maybe there’s not enough space at the bottom level, if they want to keep the lovely rounded windows, but the upper level could easily have accommodated a ramp. Instead, their army of staff and customers seem to be constantly helping people up and down the steps with their buggies. Wonder whether that many staff will still be on hand, after the initial setup time is over?
The entrance level has a tonne of proper bread in one window, and a few small tables in the other. The bread is handed to you by the bread person, and then you take it to the counter, which is full of fantastic looking brioche sandwiches, cheese straws, biscuits, and scones. If you want to eat in, it’s table service – you order at the central bar thingy, and are handed a table number. They sell teas (in a pot) & coffees (which were great).
None of it is cheap – two cheese straws and a herb & cheese scone with a couple of coffees and a pot of tea came to more than £15, but it’s a lovely environment, and it all tasted great.
Downstairs, you can see an army of bakers making more goods, which are constantly being carried up and downstairs on trays.
They have gently blasphemic loyalty card “Give us this day our daily bread (or coffee)” – the tenth bread or coffee is free.. Which brings me to the Bugle’s thesis on loyalty cards: If all customers acted rationally, when handed a loyalty card, all customers should pass the card to the person behind them in the queue. Then every tenth coffee sold would always be free. But we don’t, because humans are weird.
Anyway, back to the bakery… The whole place feels like something out of the movie Chocolat, but with bread instead of cocoa. It’s going to be here to stay, I reckon. If only they rented out VHS tapes, they’d be perfect.
Licensed under a 
The Blackheath Bugle 
The place looks good.
But why would it be rational to pass the loyalty card to the next customer. The point of a loyalty card is to reward repeat custom. By passing it to the next person there’s no guarantee you would ever benefit from your own loyalty. That would be irrational.
How many unused loyalty cards do you have in your wallet? The most efficient way to use them would be to always share them.
This week in Blackheath:
“… two cheese straws and a herb & cheese scone with a couple of coffees and a pot of tea came to more than £15 …”
This week elsewhere:
Hunger “stalks large parts” of Britain, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby says. Families are being forced to turn to food banks to make ends meet, he told the Mail on Sunday.
Now I feel guilty…
Don’t feel guilty. But maybe appreciate that for some people in the local area, an Asda selling affordable food and providing jobs is not such a bad idea.