Final chapter for city's Waterstones

1:40pm Wednesday 2nd February 2011 in News

Final chapter for city's Waterstones Final chapter for city's Waterstones

TWELVE jobs are at risk after a book chain announced it was closing one of its Worcester stores.

Waterstones in High Street will shut its doors on Sunday, February 6, and is one of 11 Waterstones’ branches nationally to close on that day.

The 12 staff who work at the store are currently in consultation with the company about their futures.

A spokesman said: “Our other Worcester branch in The Shambles is not affected.

"We would hope to redeploy the staff from the High Street elsewhere.”

The announcement is less than a month after HMV, Waterstones’ parent company, revealed it had suffered a 12.6 per cent slump in like-for-like sales in the five weeks to Christmas and was struggling to meet the terms of a bank loan.

The closures of 20 branches of Waterstones and 40 HMV stores have been proposed to save the company £10 million in 2011.

Comments(10)

MR H Marks says...
1:48pm Wed 2 Feb 11

What a shame to lose your job, I hope that you do get another soon.
In all honesty though it doesn’t surprise me that this branch has closed, I cant think of many places bar London(obviously) that have got more than one waterstones in such close proximity.

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Maggie Would says...
2:21pm Wed 2 Feb 11

I guess the writing has been on the wall (if you'll pardon the pun) ever since Waterstones took over the new store on The Shambles (Ottakers?)
I shall miss it. It didn't stock the range of the other store but it was quirky and I liked browsing in there.
I hope all of the staff get other employment soon. They have always been very helpful and appear to know their stuff.

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MR H Marks says...
2:27pm Wed 2 Feb 11

I think your correct Maggie, the other store was always set to remain its bigger and better stocked. You never know a wonderful independent bookshop may open up in the old waterstones and employ the workers, can always hope.
Just to amend my previous comment, Worcester in fact had 3 waterstones according to the website there’s also one at the university.

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molecat says...
4:26pm Wed 2 Feb 11

Bad news indeed. It's the only book shop in Worcester that actually feels like a bookshop when you walk in there...if you know what I mean. Excellent staff, always helpful & knowledgeable. Hope they all get jobs straight away.
If anyone wants to take over the building and needs an accurate set of drawings of it, let me know. I've surveyed it already and I'll give you a good price. Times are hard...gotta make a buck where ever I can these days!

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Maggie Would says...
4:42pm Wed 2 Feb 11

Cased it for a burglary, molecat?

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molecat says...
5:29pm Wed 2 Feb 11

Maggie Would wrote:
Cased it for a burglary, molecat?
I'm not like that. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
(other book related comments and puns are available in our closing down sale)

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Maggie Would says...
7:19pm Wed 2 Feb 11

We work in the same field, molecat. Who knows, we may have glared at each other around the same design team meeting table or drunk out of the same salmonella-ridden mug in a site hut somewhere.

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Peter WR5 says...
10:19pm Wed 2 Feb 11

I am so very sorry to hear that such a delightfully helpful team is going to be broken up. Thank you for your kind service these last few years.

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economist says...
12:22pm Thu 3 Feb 11

A great shame indeed.
Birmingham has 2 very large stores in the City Centre.
Sadly I suspect many more book shops will go under in the next 10 years as the Kindle and other e-readers take the place of hard copy books. In the US, e-book sales are already out selling hard copy books - amazing how quickly this process is taking place.

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Worcesterman says...
2:48pm Fri 4 Feb 11

economist: I am amazed at the length of your letter, a loss of words I assume. For the first time I actually read all of it.

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