111 replies to this topic

[xanderl]

Yes, it's a shame but inevitable - many of the specialist shops on Charing Cross Road have disappeared to be replaced by coffee shops, shoe shops etc over the last few years.

A couple have been "absorbed" into Foyles - there's a specialist jazz shop which is now a section in there.

[Honoured Guest]

Why not retain Dress Circle as a social meeting point for the musical theatre world by refitting it as a coffee shop or a shoe shop with a musical theatre ambience - decor, background music, etc. The current staff could be retrained and retained - they'd soon be up and running and readily sneering at their customers' choice of beverage or footwear.

[robg]

i do kind of agree above , whenever i come to london i always  love to browse round dress circle and have found some Gems  that even amazon dont stock , there is high demand for coffee shops and what better than to have a westend theatre themed store , selling great coffee , glamourous cakes  imagine slice of Shrek cake ,jersey boys 50s cake , etc  , showtunes in background somewhere with a buzz  that like minded theatre buffs could relax over coffee and cake , i would much rather be there than Bland  chains  and give them my £6 for coffee & cake than S/B or C/N
  think they have missed a trick  they could still have  screens  with web site on and customers could mail order  from the store and be delivered home ?

[Abby]

I felt a moment of sadness when I heard it was closing, but that was it. I stopped going because the atmosphere was cliquey and unwelcoming, and the staff often rude. The last time I was there a couple of years ago I was ignored when I tried to buy something for what felt like five mins while the man behind the till bitched with his mate about a previous customer, and that wasn't a one-off.

I actually would pay more to buy instantly or make impulse purchases so it definitely wasn't the rise of Amazon that lost my custom - it just wasn't a nice place to visit.

[Reich]

Honoured Guest, on 01 August 2012 - 09:39 AM, said:

Why not retain Dress Circle as a social meeting point for the musical theatre world by refitting it as a coffee shop or a shoe shop with a musical theatre ambience - decor, background music, etc. The current staff could be retrained and retained - they'd soon be up and running and readily sneering at their customers' choice of beverage or footwear.

i’d go in and order an instant coffee just to see the look on their faces …

[les mis lover]

Matthew Winn, on 01 August 2012 - 05:26 AM, said:

I think it's inevitable that central-London specialist shops will be forced out. It used to be that it was worth the seller paying the extra to have an expensive property in the centre of town because that was the best way for people to find them. But these days a potential purchaser can find a store and check stock without even leaving the house so there's no real benefit to having a formerly-prime location any more. It makes far more sense to move out of town to somewhere a tenth the price.

It seems a shame the shop is closing.
I do wonder if there is an opening for a similar outlet but likes others have said which offer the visitor more of a musical theatre experience? Being attached to a coffee/restaurant outlet with a musical theatre theme could be the way forward. Retailers now have to always offer that little bit extra.

[Reich]

An article in last night’s Standard (sorry can’t find online) blaming the lack of punters on the Olympics  #deluded

[Zippy]

Blaming everyone but themselves. Every excuse under the sun! The Olympics, people downloading music when in reality more people are still buying music in CD format rather than downloading. They seem to be in denial.
When you read all the excuses it's easy to see why it's closing!

[wickedlover]

A couple of staff members were helpful enough...I remember a couple of years ago a woman who worked there helped me search the store for the South African recording of The Lion King, we had a nice chat whilst doing so about the shows I was planning to see over the next few days, when we found the CD, she weld feted to keep it at the till for me but I just said I'll hold on to it as I browsed round the rest of the shop, and she went back down stairs to the little office...lovely woman.

But on the other hand when I went to pay I had to wait 10 minutes at the till while the man just gossiped with a friend, and when he did finally notice me, it was like I ruining his life by making him serve a customer, he just looked at me all weird and said "you do know this isn't the Broadway recording, it's the one from South Africa" and I just replied "yes, I can see that"

So some staff members are great, but seriously if it were any other busines, a few would be fired if they treated customers like that.

Since then I normally look in to see who's working before I go in.

They also struggled to get new stock in, my most recent trip, there were hardly any items from any of the new shows that had opened in the last year, apart from a whole wall devoted to The Wizard of Oz and a shelf for The Lion King...even on the website, if they haven't had an item in for a few months, and they don't intend on getting more in, take it off the website...I ordered a book from the website and got an email saying that they wouldn't be getting anymore in stock.

[ABowlerHat]

wickedlover, on 02 August 2012 - 09:12 AM, said:

I ordered a book from the website and got an email saying that they wouldn't be getting anymore in stock.

That's happened a few times to me too!