Londoners go to war with upmarket chain Gail's over gentrification

Customers observe social distancing as they sit outside a branch of Gail's bakery on Upper Street in Islington, North London. (Credit: Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

Hundreds of people in the trendy London neighborhood of Walthamstow have signed a petition against the opening of a new upmarket bakery in the area, as locals gripe with the group’s chairman’s previous statements on COVID, Brexit, and wokeness.

Walthamstow Village locals are trying to block Gail’s as they fear its opening will lead them down a similar fate to other London neighborhoods, which have watched their high streets become consumed by homogenized chain stores in a now-standard process of gentrification.