Quelle: http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/32129/exclusive-west-end-showbiz-shop-fights-toWest End showbiz shop fights to stay open
West End institution Dress Circle, which bills itself as the “longest- running showbusiness and musical theatre shop in the world”, will be forced to close its Covent Garden premises within weeks unless it can attract external investment, its owner has revealed.
Dress Circle's Monmouth Street shop in central London
The shop, which sells cast recordings, sheet music and musical theatre memorabilia and hosts regular star signing events, has been running for more than 30 years. It launched in 1977 and moved to its current premises in Monmouth Street in 1985.
However, Murray Allan, who has owned Dress Circle for the last 17 years, warned that he might have to shut the company’s retail premises and turn it into an internet-only operation. He said it was the “most traumatic” time he had faced since the shop was damaged in an arson attack nine years ago.
“I’m very much struggling to keep the shop open,” he told The Stage. “I’m probably a couple of months [away from closure], if that. It’s very soon. By the end of June I’ve got to either be rescued or become a website, an online store only.”
According to Murray, the shop is struggling because of a mix of competition from music download sites, the recession and a lack of available product. Allan complained that major shows such as Hairspray and Priscilla Queen of the Desert had not released cast recordings and that many shows no longer offered a wide range of merchandise.
“The demand is there, but it’s more to do with the manufacturers and production companies not releasing London cast recordings like they used to, and not having a range of merchandise like they used to. We’ve got The Wizard of Oz, Betty Blue Eyes and Umbrellas of Cherbourg but the range is no way near as much as they used to make. I think as far as merchandise goes, the last major show that opened that had a huge and a good range of merchandise was Mary Poppins, and that closed about two years ago.”
Meanwhile, he said the shop, which employs nine staff, was also faced with increased overheads.
“It’s not dissimilar to most retailers up and down the country. We had a rent increase of 35% in July 2009 and that is a five-year rent review. It’s just an escalation in the cost of running the shop. Your rent goes up and your rates go up - gas and electricity, everything is up and business is down.”
Allan believes that with outside investment to spend on improved branding and marketing of the shop - and to potentially move into creating licensed cast recordings - Dress Circle could survive the recession. “We’re not just a regular shop - we’ve been called a community and an institution,” he added.
“I do believe that if I can get out of this recession, there are good things ahead. But none of us know how long this recession is going to go on for. I do feel as though there is a future for Dress Circle as a shop, as it stands, but it does require investment.”
Without that, Allan warned the shop would “definitely” close, although its website http://www.dresscircle.co.uk would continue to operate.
Ich persönlich fänds schrecklich wenn's den Shop nicht mehr gäbe. Onlineshop is halt doch nicht das selbe...
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