Christian Marketplace, March 2010
Courtesy of Clem Jackson’s interview with Ray George of Nationwide Christian Trust in this month’s Christian Marketplace, we now have the definitive list of shops that Living Oasis have in their sights:
We now have 20 shops in our portfolio: Aberdeen, Bedford, Belfast, Cheltenham, Chester, Croydon, Edinburgh, Harrogate, Harrow, Inverness, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, South Woodford, Southampton, Sutton, Watford, Weston-Super-Mare and Worthing.
Meetings with local church leaders and dates for shop openings that have been brought to my attention are as follows, A-Z by location:
Chester (added 5/3/2010)
- Saturday 13th March: Official opening with Lady Grace Sheppard
- Saturday 13th March: Doors open as Living Oasis
- Saturday 13th March, 1pm: Official opening with the Revd Professor Andrew McGowan. Refreshments will be provided.
- Friday 5th March, 12.30pm: Meeting for local church leaders at St George’s Church centre.
- Tuesday 9th March, 10am: Doors open as Living Oasis
- Saturday 13th March, 1.00pm: Official opening with Paul Blakey MBE, founder of Street Angels Halifax; 3.00pm: live music by “Voices of Praise” Gospel Choir from the New Testament Church of God.
- Saturday 6th March: Doors open as Living Oasis
- Look out for reports in the East London & West Essex Guardian Series
More details will be posted as and when notified. In the meantime, you can keep track on twitter: Living Oasis
March 2, 2010 at 9:54 am
20 Shops – wow! That’s quite a challenge. God bless all the people working to make this happen.
March 2, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Glad to see someone else taking the initiative to keep Christian retail going, and wish Ray and all at NCT all the best.
However I am a little concerned by just how evasive some of the comments have been so far. In the interview Ray mentioned that they had taken (rather than were considering, implying that the clock was already ticking) temporary leases on the current units. For 3-6 months. If we assume he took leases from when Baker Tilley abandoned them, we’re looking at a month of that lease (on average) already run, and only 4 stores (plus Harrogate) with possible opening dates, that only gives stores a couple of months before having to move on. At The Hub, we just about managed to turn a single store around in exactly one month, 20 another 15 in the next four or five seems… speculative at best. Add to that, that almost as soon as your shop is open, you are pulling staff away to help refit your new unit, and the whole thing seems like a very big ask.
However, what what concerned me the most was his failure to answer the question about whether or not shop viability was dependent upon local support. It would seem that Living Oasis/NCT have only made a short term commitment to the 20 (presumably the same as the short term leases they have taken), so does that therefore mean that if local support isn’t there, this magical 20 number could become a lot less?
Like I said, I’m glad that NCT have stepped up and taken a bold move, but with so many people pinning so much to this “rescue” if I had been one of those people, I would have liked some more reassurances…. or to put it another, I’m glad our future here in Walsall is in our own hands.
March 4, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Can someone please tell me when the Southampton Branch will re-open – am in need of my Christian books fix….. Or give me the contact details of someone who does. Thanks
April 17, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Hi Dianne,
Living Oasis in Southampton has been open for a month now and would be glad to have your support again.
All the Best
Kristian
March 4, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Chester reopens as Living Oasis on Saturday
13th March when it will be officialy opened by Lady Grace Sheppard.
March 5, 2010 at 12:29 am
Hey Ian, Great News indeed. You’ll be in my thoughts and prayers.
March 5, 2010 at 11:22 am
Thanks Ian – excellent news. Added to the list.
March 15, 2010 at 8:56 pm
PLEASE… does anyone know when the Manchester store will be opening? I miss the Wesley Owen shop so much! Thank you!
March 15, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Scheduled for next Saturday, 20th March: see my more recent post Shop Openings by the busload for a timeline, and keep an eye on these pages for updates:
December 22, 2010 at 7:34 am
[...] 02/03/10 Living Oasis: 20 Shops, Meetings and Openings: 820 [...]
March 26, 2011 at 8:05 am
[...] list of branches (screenshot opposite) which now shows only 13 stores, including Harrow, out of the original 20 (or 19, discounting [...]