Cubitts opens 'community-focused' Hackney store

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
May 19, 2023

Cubitts is maintaining its expansion efforts on both product and physical retail fronts. Fresh from launching a sunglasses collab with Toast this week, the fashion eyewear maker/retailer has now opened its latest store in the heart of Broadway Market’s community in London’s Hackney and released a new collection to reflect local history. 

Housed in a Grade II listed former eel pie and mash shop, the store pays homage to the rich local history of the mid-century terraced building and the wider East London community. 
 
The store retains the original features fitted in the 1930s including glazed white and cream tiles with mirror panels, terrazzo floors and walls, stained glass windows and its tiled counter with the marble countertop and shelves that were originally used to display fresh eels on ice. A selection of objects from the original F. Cooke & Sons archives are also displayed in the store.

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To mark the opening, Cubitts is also launching a new collection dedicated to the Broadway Market, taking inspiration from surrounding buildings, natural spaces and F Cooke itself.

The frames include: Cooke, inspired by a pre-civil war design from the 1860s in the US and the Pie and Mash shop; Orwell, a frame inspired by the eyewear of novelist George Orwell who lived nearby and frequented The Dove Pub on Broadway Market; and Starburst, an experimental frame inspired by the stained glass window of the original building.
 
Cubitts has also partnered with a number of local independent businesses, "shining a light on talent in the area". In collaboration with Artwords Bookshop, Cubitts’ Broadway Market store will provide a space to loan books from a curated collection of literature. Cubitts has also worked with local East London designer and illustrator Alec Doherty to create a charity cleaning cloth, with proceeds donated to a local charity.

Tom Broughton, founder of the brand, said: “It's our hope that Cubitts Broadway Market isn't just a shop, but becomes an integral part of the community for as long as we're custodians of this exemplary building.”