Here comes the Rumour Mill

Simon:



So, what a lot of stuff's going on up London way. First, it seems that my old branch of Waterstone's/Dillons/Claude Gill/Athena is to 'close temporarily in early 2009' due to the new Crossrail trainline being built.
Rumour has it that they are looking for new sites on Oxford Street to accommodate the staff , so the idea that they're to close temporarily seems strange. I had a look at the Crossrail plans for where the shop is, and the latest proposal is that there will be a ground level station there. Apparently nobody's too worried in the branch, but it's also rumoured that the work on the rail link will start in Summer 2008....apparently

In more sad news, the Pan Bookshop, in Fulham has announced that it's going to close in January next year!
I have copied the next bit from the article in the Bookseller (the organ of the booktrade)
David Macmillan, who was responsible for the shop, said: "It is a very sad day for us all after so many years trading (32), and serving the local community, but I'm afraid the difficult trading conditions we are all experiencing, have made it impossible for the shop to continue. We just haven't had the margins to enable us to compete in our high street location."
I say Bollocks to that. There's a market there, and despite the rents being high, surely the business could have continued. Relocate to a smaller, cheaper premises. Investors, check out the shops P and L, and take the plunge. Start a petition (as an anonymous reader suggested!). The shop has a turnover of millions, so it seems crazy that no-one will realise the gap in the market.
Blaming high rents, tough trading conditions, and wishing the members of staff 'well for the future'.
It seems that Wood Green isn't too different from West London after all....apparently.