Scan Magazine, Issue 81, October 2015

Page 128

2_3_ScanMagazine_Issue_81_Oct-Nov_2015_Scan Magazine 1 15/10/2015 21:37 Page 128

Popping with cinnamon buns and support Isra Al Kassi always knew she wanted to support parents and small-scale start-up entrepreneurs and dreamed of starting her own Swedish café and culture hub in London, but lack of funding meant that reality got in the way. Until one day, she came across an empty shop that was too big only to house her baby clothes business – and decided to jump. By Linnea Dunne | Photos: LattjoPOP

“I came to London from Sweden when I was 18 to study,” says Al Kassi. “Two years later I fell pregnant, and I couldn’t continue with my studies as I simply didn’t have the support, so I got restless and started thinking of setting up my own business.” She brought the idea for a Swedish café and culture hub to The Prince’s Trust, a charity providing practical and financial support to young unemployed people, but it quickly became clear

128 | Issue 81 | October 2015

that the venture would be far too costly to get off the ground. Al Kassi went for plan b: an online shop called Lattemama, selling imported Swedish baby and children’s clothes. The business got established fairly quickly and did well – but the founder was not as content as perhaps she should have been. “I wanted to see people, and I knew I was actually far better at supporting parents and

small businesses than I was at selling,” she explains. “I was just at my most hesitant about whether or not to continue with Lattemama when I found an empty shop in Streatham that was up for rent,” Al Kassi recalls. “I’d been looking at premises to explore the option of making Lattemama into a bricks-and-mortar shop in addition to the online business, but when I found the shop it was way too big for just a clothes shop. My café and culture hub idea resurfaced, I borrowed some money, did some frankly quite unsuccessful crowdfunding, took everything I had and went for it – and now LattjoPOP has been open for over a year!”


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