Wesley Owen

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January 25, 2012

Light Shines on in the Darkness as more Redundancies and Shop Closures hit Wesley Owen

Posted by Phil Groom under Independent Booksellers, News, People News, Wesley Owen | Tags: , , , , , , , |
[6] Comments 
Update, 26/1/2011: Official announcements about the closures have now been posted by Wesley Owen: Bath | Bristol (pdfs, identical apart from the store locations and dates of closure)
The Bath Chronicle published a report on Weds 25/1/2012: Christian bookshop closes its doors

NEWS EMERGED YESTERDAY of further redundancies at Wesley Owen as the Bath and Bristol stores closed their doors for the last time; and whilst in certain respects that news — coming so soon after the weekend’s news of more job losses at TMD — might seem beyond worse, all is not yet lost: Richard Greatrex, former manager of the Bath store, has branched out independently with his own venture, Windflower Books.

Describing the project in a welcome message on the company’s newly launched website and blog, Richard writes:

Windflower Books has been in existence since 2007 as a small scale concern selling secondhand and remaindered theological books on the internet, supplying bookstalls for communities and events and publishing small runs of specialist material.

2012 sees a change in the Windflower venture as we seek to supply the needs of individuals, churches and communities in the South West who have lost their own local Christian Bookshops.

From a small start we hope to develop a system of bespoke bookselling tailored to the specific needs of each community we are working with. We are in the process of negotiating our first sites for enhanced bookstalls in local churches. Keep checking our blog, our Facebook page (Windflower Books) or our Twitter feed (windflowerbooks) for further details…

If you live in the South West and would like Richard to provide bookstall services for your church, do give him a shout: full contact details are available on the facebook page; and if you live further away, just hit that facebook Like button anyway to cheer him on.

Richard, I salute you: may the Lord bless you richly in this venture, and may your bookstalls be many and more popular than you can even begin to imagine.

 

February 25, 2011

News Roundup: Celebrating 10 Years Online | Commentaries Sale at Wesley Owen | More Shops Seeking New Owners | More Than Another Day of Prayer | New Blog for Caritas Music

Posted by Phil Groom under Cardiff, Christian Book Trade, Christian Bookshops, Christian Music, Independent Booksellers, News, Wesley Owen | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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UK Christian Bookshops Directory: Discover your local Christian bookshop!

Celebrating 10 Years Online!

GOT NEWS? If you have news you’d like to share about your shop or staff, please leave a comment or contact me direct to be included in the next News Roundup…

Don’t want to comment here? Join the conversation on facebook instead…

Celebrating 10 Years Online

THIS YEAR sees both the UK Christian Bookshops Directory and The Good Bookstall celebrating our tenth anniversaries: UKCBD was launched 10 years ago this month, in February 2001, whilst TGB was launched 10 years ago next month, March 2001 — and what an amazing 10 years it’s been!

We’ve seen STL expand its territory, Prayer-of-Jabez style, only to see the whole edifice here in the UK come tumbling down when they did a builder-who-didn’t-count-the-cost routine; we’ve seen the destruction of the SPCK Bookshops chain in the hands of the gruesome twosome, Messrs Phil and Mark Brewer; we’ve seen dozens of independent bookshop closures; and we’ve seen Christian Marketplace go from being a monthly independent magazine to a bi-monthly, surviving only as a subsidiary of another giant, the Premier Christian media empire.

We’ve also seen the phenomenal rise of online Christian bookseller Eden.co.uk, the emergence of the ebook and yet — in the face of all these challenges — many shops rising, phoenix-like, from the ashes of those destructions, an important reminder if ever we needed one that God isn’t interested in our ambitions and empires, no matter how much we persuade ourselves that it’s God’s kingdom we’re building — because our God, the God we meet in Jesus, isn’t ultimately found in huge presences or high profiles but is revealed rather in small and hidden things, babies born in poverty, bookshops in backstreets and market halls, and bookstalls at the back of forgotten churches. We strive for ‘Mission on the High Street’ but God calls us to mission wherever we are, with whatever we have.

5 Quid for Life: A Mental Health Safety Net

5 Quid for Life

At UKCBD, I’m celebrating 10 years with a simple commitment: over the next year a minimum of 10% of all UKCBD income will be donated to the new up-and-coming charity 5 Quid for Life: A Mental Health Safety Net. It’s a project that I’ve been privileged to be part of from the outset, emerging out of a friend’s desperation as she poured out her heart over the disruption the current government’s changes to the UK benefits system would have on her. If you haven’t already done so, read about it here: Welcome to 5 Quid for Life; and if you’d like to make a donation, you can do so here: 5quidforlife.org.uk/#donate

For further reflections on the changes the last ten years have wrought, see Mary Bartholomew’s latest Good Bookstall editorial; and as we celebrate 10 years online, congratulations must also go to Luke Bunger and his team at one of those small independents, The Hub, Walsall, as they celebrate their first anniversary after surviving the collapse of Wesley Owen … talking of which…

Commentaries Sale at Wesley Owen

THANK YOU to Wesley Owen Birmingham for letting me know about their commentaries sale: 25% off all commentaries; but anyone wanting a slice of the cake needs to move fast — offer ends tomorrow, Saturday 26th February. Available from all branches and online too!

Meanwhile congratulations are due to the inimitable David Chant, former WO Birmingham branch manager, who has moved on into ‘semi-retirement’ from where he should be able to spend a little more time promoting Planet BB. Have you ordered your stock yet? David’s itching to hear from you…

More Shops Seeking New Owners

CHRISTIAN BOOKSHOPS seeking new owners seems to be a trending topic at the moment. This time around we have two, The Ark, Lymington, and Cardiff Christian Bookshop.

The Ark, Lymington

Shop For Sale: The Ark, Lymington

THE ARK is a Christian Bookshop and Café which opened its doors in 2004 and has gone on to serve the local community and churches ever since, but owner Ginny Ayling now wishes to retire and hand on the business to someone else: sale price £325,000, Freehold. Could that someone be you or someone you know?

The shop is well loved and supported by the local people. Describing the shop, the Revd Peter Salisbury, Vicar of Lymington, said:

The Ark is an important part of the Christian outreach in Lymington and is an excellent central meeting place. All the volunteers are from the local churches and the bookshop gives advice and an ordering service, which we use for our personal and church orders. The Café, which is always buzzing at lunchtime, has a very high reputation and offers friendly and personal service plus gorgeous food – I’m usually in there about once a week!

Download the Particulars of Sale or an A4 Sale Poster (both pdfs) if you’d like to know more or would like to help promote the sale.

CARDIFF CHRISTIAN BOOKSHOP is currently owned and operated by the Evangelical Movement of Wales, who have reluctantly concluded that they can no longer support the shop. From the shop’s February Prayer Letter:

The Evangelical Movement of Wales has decided most reluctantly that it must bring its support of the Cardiff Christian Bookshop to an end. This is most regrettable since it has been such a witness in the heart of the city for almost 50 years. It is, however, very keen that the work and witness should continue and would actively invite Churches and other interested Christian groups to assume responsibility for it and to come forward with proposals for its future operation. The Movement is continuing to own and support the shop in the short term and the business will continue to function as usual.

The business costs around £55,000 per year to run in terms of staffing, rent and other expenses: download the February Prayer Letter (pdf) if you’d like to know more.

More Than Another Day of Prayer

8 Days of Prayer: Launching a Season of Prayer for Christian Retail in the UK

8 Days of Prayer: Launching a Season of Prayer for Christian Retail in the UK (pdf, 90kb)

JOY MCILROY of Ashburnham Books has been busy liaising with Clem Jackson at Christian Marketplace to draw up plans for another Day of Prayer for the trade — but this year it’s more than a day of prayer: the vision is for a season of prayer to run through Lent, starting on Ash Wednesday, 9th March. Announcement here: Day of Prayer for Christian Trade.

The announcement suggests sharing plans via the Christian Authors, Booksellers and Publishers facebook group. Should you choose to do so, please note that that is a closed group, set up specifically to facilitate discussion within the trade away from the public eye — in other words, not the best forum to use if you wish to engage with others beyond the trade…

As with previous occasions I’ll be updating this site’s Day of Prayer page with news and updates as and when they emerge: please do feel free to post details of any plans there and to point members of the general public in that direction.

New Blog for Caritas Music

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, another birthday this month as Caritas Music turned 13 back on February 2nd and have now launched a brand new bright-and-shiny blog for Caritas Music / Eschenbach Editions, where you’ll soon find all the latest news appearing from these two independent music publishers.

Looking Back…

 

May 5, 2010

What’s happening at Wesley Owen? David Chant gives us the inside story

Posted by Phil Groom under Bookshop Ramblings, Guest Posts, Wesley Owen | Tags: , , , |
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Wesley Owen Birmingham: Facebook Photos

Wesley Owen Birmingham - Facebook Photos

If you’re anything like me, you’ve no doubt been wondering how things are going for Wesley Owen’s survivors under their new Aussie owners, Koorong. So I put on my Aussie hat (made from genuine ’roo hide) to give myself an authentic Oz presence and invited the inimitable David Chant from Wesley Owen Birmingham to tell us all about it. He writes:

Thank you, Phil, for inviting me to tell the bookselling world all about our first 4 months under new ownership. In December, we were fortunate to be one of the 8 Wesley Owen stores to be bought by Koorong, the leading Australian Christian bookseller.  All the changes in the trade have been well documented, so I will concentrate on how this has impacted upon one of the Big 8!  From day one we were welcomed into the Koorong family by the key personnel.  By January we had received phone calls from Australia, (most of which were made in the early hours of their morning), visitations by many, and regular emails that helped us with the transition from Wesley Owen to the Koorong way.

Birmingham branch was chosen to be to the IT hub for the group.  Their IT guru based himself here for a number of weeks, setting up the PCs, and EPOS terminals.  He then travelled England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, setting everything up.  He finally left the UK after many weeks in the snowy UK – and had missed the Aussie summer!

The EPOS system is superb!  We are only using a tiny part of what it is capable of at present, but that will soon change as new systems are introduced.

We recently received training from another of the jet-setters – and more are coming over shortly. We are taking in so much (and probably forgetting the majority of it!) at the moment, and sometimes go home in the evenings totally exhausted from all we have taken on board.

In recent weeks we have all received numerous pallets of books.  About 200 boxes of lovely stock winged itself to us in April, and I cannot begin to tell you how marvelous it is to walk into a well stocked shop again.  It has been quite a task manhandling so much stock; sorting, pricing and rearranging the shop to fit in all in. But how rewarding!  For example, we now have a Bible section crammed with just about anything we are likely to be asked for.  It’s been some time since I could say that!

The new Wesley Owen Books & Music membership scheme, website, and data base are now being built, so it won’t be long until we are well and truly inducted into the Koorong way.

Having been through such a transition before, (we had been an independent for 105 years before Wesley Owen took us over in 1997), some aspects haven’t been too big a shock to the system.  In fact it has breathed new life and vigour into not only the shop, but also the staff.

We are being ably looked after by our UK based management, as well as the team from Sydney.  It is great to have such a dedicated team watching over us.

Now the fun begins.  We will be undertaking our first stocktake soon, and will no doubt be getting our branch budgets shortly.  Honeymoon period over? :-)

Finally, having invited David to contribute, it would be remiss of me not to mention his personal project, Planet BB: if you or anyone you know is or has been involved in Boys’ Brigade, check it out.

 

February 24, 2010

Living Oasis News Roundup: Nationwide rollout plans gather momentum (updated)

Posted by Phil Groom under Christian Bookshops, News, Wesley Owen | Tags: , , , , |
[6] Comments 
Update, 26/02/2010: Wesley Owen Sutton facebook page is now Living Oasis Sutton: Good news for Sutton!
Ripon and Leeds Diocesan News: Author cuts the tape as Harrogate's Christian bookshop rescued

Author cuts the tape as Harrogate's Christian bookshop rescued

Following this month’s opening of the first Living Oasis store in Harrogate (reported here on Monday), momentum is gathering around the country as other former branches of Wesley Owen prepare for their prospective new owners, Nationwide Christian Trust, to step in.

Aberdeen
Via twitter, @Robin_du_Bois, 11:46am, Feb 2nd: 

Seems Wesley Owen in Aberdeen has been saved by Living Oasis. Shelves are empty and shop closed, but sign on window says “Reopening soon”.

Bedford
Photo posted on facebook by Ian Holloway, 9:52pm, Feb 12th: 

Former Wesley Owen, Bedford: Shop Saved by Living Oasis

Former Wesley Owen, Bedford - Shop Saved by Living Oasis

Harrow
Plans announced 26/01/2010 to re-open as Living Oasis.
Meeting with local church leaders scheduled for 12.30pm,  Fri 26th Feb at St John’s Church Stanmore | @StJohnsStanmore: all welcome.
Inverness
Facebook page rebranded as Living Oasis: 6.02pm, 19th Feb: 

we are going to be changing names to “Living Oasis” and WILL BE opening again really soon, watch this space for details! :o )

Leeds
Ripon and Leeds Diocesan News, 14th Feb: 

The Nationwide Christian Trust says it also plans to reopen the former Wesley Owen bookshop in Vicar Lane, Leeds in mid-March and will be working in partnership with Leeds churches to develop the shop with new cafe and meeting facilities. A meeting of local church leaders is planned for Thursday March 4th.

Manchester
Shereen Ormshaw on Friends of Wesley Owen Manchester facebook group, 5.02pm, 16th Jan: 

Hi, firstly i’d just like to thankyou all for your support and prayers we really appreciate it, secondly i’m very happy to tell you all that a buyer has been found for wesley owen manchester!
www.nationwidechristiantrust.com
we will still be closing down but we will reopen in the not to distant future!

South Woodford
Ceased trading but expected to re-open as Living Oasis: see reports in the East London and West Essex Guardian Series
Weston-Super-Mare
Facebook group rebranded as Living Oasis: 

Living Oasis in Weston is one of a new chain of Christian retailers in the UK.

Watch this space for the Opening Event details for your new and improved Christian resouce Facility in Weston!

We are within walking distance of the beach, the train station and the main shopping area. We are opposite the town hall just down the road from TJ Hughes.

A full range of Christian product wil be found including, Books, Bibles, CDs, DVDs, Gifts, Cards, and a selection of Church Resources.If it’s not in stock we will most likely be able to order it for you!

 

July 15, 2008

Select Catalogues Misprinted

Posted by Phil Groom under Independent Booksellers, STL, Wesley Owen
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For any members of STL’s ‘Select’ Catalogue scheme who haven’t spotted this yet: be aware that the entire print run for the current batch of Select catalogues has been issued as from Wesley Owen, which may cause you some embarrassment as an independent bookseller. STL are raising credits, but you may need to take the initiative…

The problem was spotted by Melanie Carroll at Unicorn Tree Books, Lincoln, who wrote as follows on July 11th:

… my first batch of Select Promotion magazines came today – I had to chase them when I realised I should have already had them a week or so ago – seems I got lost in the shuffle and though set up for them they just never got sent out from the warehouse, ahh well it happens, especially to me at the minute it would seem.

Still 10 out of 10, I chased yesterday, got an apology from Wayne for the oversight and they duly arrived today. that’s pretty good follow through.

So I sit down to look through it – after all it’s my first chance to see what’s in the promotion and think about ordering stock in prior to doing my mail out and on the first page in the welcome blurb section, in the first line it said…

‘… Here at Wesley Owen we have many items’!

So maybe Kate you are onto something with your sneaking suspicion :o )

Now in terms of customer service I can’t complain as I phoned STLD and spoke to a very nice woman, Janette, who went and fetched out some past editions, as well as the crown version and the WO version – and sure enough this go around all versions have the same wording, when of course normally they have a suitable ‘other’ replacing the term WO she assures me. She also said she would pass my upset and concerns on and point out the problem – though of course there is nothing they can do now.

I ended the conversation at least feeling a little assured that its just the way my current week is running. 10 minutes later she phoned me back to say she had passed on the problem to her manager and they were aware of the problem and will credit me back the cost of this issue due to my upset – can’t ask for fairer than that really.

However, OK, I know it was a just a proof read oversight but it really got to me – not least because this is a promotion I pay into by buying the magazines for at least the next 12 months, I know there are benefits and reciprocations: I get better discount to off set the price promotion items, and I know that this edition shall not have cost me anything but that’s just as well because I don’t think I can actually use these ones now as it says the wrong thing, heck it looks like I nicked them from the next city overs WO! and gives the wrong impression to my customers. Well come on it tells the customers that I am a WO and that could cause a bit of confusion – it’s bad enough with me having to do the ‘no we are not anything to do with SSG/SPCK, we are entirely independent with it all being done as my personal mission etc etc’ without having to potentially add the WO bit to the spiel when a customer who had recieved one of the magazines comes in with a return, concern, complaint or issue.

John Duncan of Cornerstone, London, has also followed the matter up with STL:

I have requested a refund and enquired about a reprint. Here is my response:

John
Yes, this was an error on our part. Unfortunately we are not in a position to reprint the catalogues. However, as a good will gesture, I am happy to raise a credit for the catalogues if you are able to supply me with an invoice number from where you were charged.
Regards
Wayne Johnston

(Posted 14th July)

 

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