Wednesday, November 21, 2007

This is an article from the Bookseller (a trade magazine for book shops)

Waterstone's closes first ever branch

By Graeme Neill

The first ever Waterstone's branch, which opened in 1982 in west London, will close on Christmas Eve after the retailer decided not to extend the lease on the Old Brompton Road property when it expires on 24th December.

The company said that it intended to relocate the shop's 13 staff to other central London branches. 'It is always sad to close a store, but this closure is especially poignant as it was the first branch opened back in 1982,' said Waterstone's m.d. Gerry Johnson.

"From that one store we have grown Waterstone's into a 320-plus store company with over 45,00 employees and shops all over the country and further afield. I would like to pay tribute to the current team and to everyone who has worked in the store since its opening, and of course to the countless customers who have enjoyed shopping there over the years."

Waterstone's has been implementing plans to cut 10% of its floor space over three years. It has another branch nearby on Kings Road and on Kensington High St.

So the cat is well and truly out of the bag now that the press know. A lot of customers have been in the shop today asking questions about it all. When they were talking about how sad it was that they where losing there book shop I really wanted to tell them how I was feeling, I chose to move to that shop because I wanted to be part of something and I was. Not only is it a job but it was a lot more. I want you all to think about the people who work in the shops you go into, I know for most people its just a job and money, but you know for some people its a lot more. And if one day that shop shuts down, you may lose you r local shop but those people in that shop will have all the fears of possibly lost there jobs or don't know what is going to happen to them... 

2 comments:

Kris said...

Sorry to hear about your shop. :( I's happened to me before and I know how much it sucks. I hope you hear about the relocation they mentioned soon. ((sending hugs))

Vegan Bear said...

Thanks for the hugs...

The good thing is that they are really good to us so I'm sure I will be O.K.

Bear. X