Dress Circle Shop Faces Battle for Survival???Date: 12 May 2011Dress Circle, the "longest-running showbusiness and musical theatre shop in the world" may be forced to shut its doors unless it receives external investment in the coming weeks. The shop, located on Monmouth Street in Covent Garden, opened in 1977 and has been a haven for theatre fanatics ever since, selling a wide selection of cast recordings, sheet music, and memorabilia. Competition created by music download websites, increased rent and the recession have caused the shop to struggle to make ends meet. Speaking to The Stage the shop's owner Murray Allan said: "I'm probably a couple months [away from closure], if that... By the end of June I've got to either be rescued or become a website, an online store only." He also blamed production companies and manufacturers for the store's woes, going on to say that although there was demand many West End musicals were not producing cast recordings or range or the range of merchanise they had in the past. Related Content
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