{"id":271024,"date":"2025-07-18T03:40:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T03:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/271024\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T03:40:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T03:40:13","slug":"in-peckham-london-immigrant-shopowners-reflect-on-the-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/271024\/","title":{"rendered":"In Peckham, London, immigrant shopowners reflect on the economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of our ongoing series \u201cThe Age of Work<\/a>\u201d about how demographic shifts are shaking up the global economy, \u201cMarketplace\u201d host Kai Ryssdal and ADP chief economist Nela Richardson visited London, England. The U.K. has a higher percentage of people over 65 than the United States, and thus holds insights into our economic future as our own population ages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far, we\u2019ve looked at two ways an economy can keep growing even as the number of people hitting retirement age<\/a> outpaces new workers entering the labor force. Companies can find ways to keep older people working longer<\/a> or use technology to make workers more productive<\/a>. But there is another option: increasing the labor force through immigration<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ryssdal and Richardson visited Peckham, a neighborhood in South London that\u2019s long been home to generations of immigrants from all over the world. On Choumert Road, just off the high street, they stepped into a small store selling rice, spices, pounded yams, dried plantains, and other imported goods.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

“The Merciful God African Market” in South London, which specializes in imported goods.<\/p>\n

Maria Hollenhorst\/Marketplace<\/p>\n

Ola Sanusi, the store\u2019s owner, said he mostly imports from Africa, especially Nigeria. As costs have increased as a result of inflation, tariffs, and fluctuating foreign exchange rates, he said he\u2019s had a harder time making a living. \u201cThat scares customers away,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a result, he\u2019s had to make lifestyle changes, like canceling his television subscription. Now, at age 67, he worries that he\u2019ll never be able to retire. \u201cI think I will continue working until I die,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what else to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across the street, Ryssdal and Richardson met Patience Godwin, who opened up her own hair salon, Hair Palace LDN<\/a>, this April after years of working in other salons nearby.<\/p>\n

“Peckham is changing now,” Godwin said. “It’s not like before, where anybody can just get a shop. You can’t even rent a flat in Peckham, it’s gotten so expensive.”<\/p>\n

She thinks it will be another six months to a year until her salon is profitable, but she still sends money home to her parents in Nigeria. \u201cEvery month I have to,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There was one business on Choumert Road that had a line out the door the whole time we were there. Pure Cane<\/a>, a pressed sugarcane juice business, was buzzing with activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Patrick Williams, the store’s co-owner, stepped out from behind the counter to talk. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna get busier later,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s all supply and demand at the moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Williams and his wife opened up this store about 10 months ago but have been selling cane juice at markets and festivals for years. He said they\u2019re proud to be part of the next generation of business owners on Choumert Road. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re standing on the shoulders of giants,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Click the audio player above to hear the conversations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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