Dear Customers,

After more than 15 years of trading on the Kingʼs Road, After Noah sadly be closed its doors there for the last time on Tuesday, February 15th, 2011.

Many, many of you have expressed your surprise and sadness after we announced that we were moving and continue to refer to us as your "favourite shop" - for which we are very touched. However, our popularity and a loyal following no longer translates into a viable local business.

Whilst After Noah in Islington has thrived and grown over the past 21 years, the last 5 years have brought a sustained decline to Chelsea. It seems that the King's Road is no longer the shopping destination for locals and tourists that it once was.    Many of you say that you rely on us, especially around Christmas, but we have had to make the decision that a full shop at Christmas does not sustain a shop year round at the rents and rates businesses along King's Road are have to pay.

Itʼs complicated to divine quite why things have changed so markedly in Chelsea and of course, there are a number of factors which probably contribute to this - chief amongst them being the price of property. As property values have increased to what many would consider to be levels that are unrealistic, consequently rents have followed suit. In turn, this impacts on and increases rates and makes running a niche business such as ours an uneconomical proposition.

The inability of young people to be able to afford to live in property nearby and a propensity for the new owners of local housing stock to spend only a few weeks a year in them, means that footfall has declined to a level which is probably around 20% of what it was 15 years ago. Add to this the effect of 90% of goods being manufactured in China and the consequent fact that many customers expect the price of goods to be less than they were 15 years ago, means that itʼs no longer possible to square the circle. In short, we (and many companies like us) find ourselves needing to sell many more items for less money, but to fewer available customers, whilst all our running costs have more than doubled during the same period.

We really are extremely sad that we have closed this shop, after putting in so much passion, time and energy and having come to know many of you as regular, loyal customers. It has certainly not been an easy decision, but it makes no sense to stay.

We hope that a lot of you will come and visit us in Islington - you donʼt need a passport or vaccinations to venture north - and when you do, you will find that we offer an even bigger and more exciting range of what we have become so well-known for selling - and in a much larger shop, too.

And, perhaps, you will find us opening South again in the not too distant future - just not in Chelsea. Please check in to this website for any updates.

In the meantime, please try to shop locally and remember that while internet shopping has its place, without regular visits to your high street, more shops like us will continue to disappear from your neighbourhood.