November 13, 2010

Living Oasis: Croydon plans dropped as Online Shop goes live

Posted by Phil Groom under News | Tags: , , , , |
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THIS WEEK has brought mixed news from Living Oasis with plans for the Croydon store placed on indefinite hold but a brand new “all singing and all dancing” online store launched in place of the previous holding pages at livingoasis.co.uk.

Christian Booksellers Convention 'Large Retailer of the Year' 2009

In its heyday, before the collapse of IBS-STL this time last year, Croydon was one of Wesley Owen’s flagship stores and went on to win the 2009 Christian Booksellers Convention ‘Large Retailer of the Year’ award. Unfortunately it appears that high rental charges mitigated against either CLC or Koorong taking on the store and attempts by Living Oasis to secure the lease fell through over the summer when a rival bidder stepped in. Plans to find alternative premises have now been shelved by Living Oasis.

No official reason for shelving the Croydon plans has been given but other sources indicate that the company, like so many others, is under increasing financial pressure: donations to support Living Oasis may be made via the new website.

Introducing the site, Andy Twilley, Director of Christian Life and Ministry at Nationwide Christian Trust, the owners of Living Oasis, explained that it has been “designed to provide the flexibility of internet shopping without undermining the viability of the retailers in the high street.” Alongside online sales, the site offers an in-store reservation service, an option to check stock levels of selected items in the branches, a list of branches and an events page.

The nearest alternative Christian bookshop for Croydon residents is In Tha House, Thornton Heath: www.inthahouse.com | @inthahouse1

Croydon Churches Forum: Living Oasis Update, 29 Sept 2010

Croydon Churches Forum: Living Oasis Update, 29 Sept 2010

Previous Reports

 

July 3, 2010

Living Oasis Croydon: Call for prayer as new lease is threatened

Posted by Phil Groom under Christian Bookshops, News | Tags: , , , |
[4] Comments 

Christian Booksellers Convention 'Large Retailer of the Year' 2009

NEWS HAS EMERGED of a rival bidder challenging the lease that Living Oasis had hoped to secure on the former Wesley Owen premises on North End Road, Croydon.

Plans announced in May to reopen the shop within a matter of weeks have now been set back and it will be necessary to seek alternative premises unless the other bidder withdraws its offer.

The Croydon Churches Forum is in the process of setting up a steering group of local church leaders and business representatives to work with Living Oasis to ensure that local churches are fully engaged with the project’s development. Please pray for wisdom, patience, grace and negotiating skills for all involved, especially the branch staff as they face further uncertainty.

 

May 29, 2010

Living Oasis Update: Croydon Branch Opening Soon!

Posted by Phil Groom under Christian Bookshops, News | Tags: , , , , , , |
1 Comment 

Living OasisA message via facebook from Paul Barton and Angela Curror:

Hello to all of you, who were on the Wesley Owen facebook friends list.

Thank you so much for your all of your prayers and support — many of the obstacles have now been removed and Living Oasis Croydon really is on its way at last!

Nationwide Christian Trust have managed to secure an offer on 145-147 North End (which used to be Wesley Owen), which has been accepted and is currently in the hands of the solicitors. Please continue to pray that this will go smoothly with no further hitches.

It has been suggested that this unit will be the first Living Oasis store to fill the vision. (Details can be found at livingoasis.co.uk)

It is thought that the alterations, refitting and re-stocking the shop, including the coffee shop area, will take approximately 4-6 weeks…..as a rough estimate, from receiving the keys. Please pray for wisdom and skill for those making decisions, drawing up the plans and carrying out the necessary work.

The manager, Paul Barton, can be contacted by email at croydon AT livingoasis.co.uk — if you have any ideas for what the shop could stock, or how the shop could better serve you or your Church, please let him know.

Nationwide Christian Trust are investing a lot of money into this and would appreciate any help from local Churches who believe in their vision and have a heart for having a community base within the shop. If you wish to contribute financially to this project please do contact Paul. Thank you very much.

May God continue to bless your ministry and we look forward to meeting you in the new Living Oasis shop.

 

April 16, 2010

Living Oasis Update: Croydon, Edinburgh, Nottingham and Worthing

Posted by Phil Groom under Christian Bookshops, News | Tags: , , , , , |
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Living Oasis: Shop Locations

Living Oasis Shop Locations - click to enlarge

This weekend should see yet another of the former Wesley Owen bookshops spring back to life as Living Oasis opens its doors in Worthing on Saturday. The map on the right, courtesy of Andy Twilley, gives a good overview of where the shops are, all — if we include Worthing — now open except for Croydon, Edinburgh and Nottingham, where negotiations are still in progress.

Angela Curror sent out the following message via facebook yesterday, summing up the situation in Croydon:

LIVING OASIS coming soon……….

Croydon has been without a Christian bookshop for two and a half months now. At the moment it isn’t even known where the new Living Oasis shop will be. There are problems with the lease on the shop where Wesley Owen was and humanly speaking things looks as if it could take quite a while to be resolved. Alternative venues are also being looked at.

Please pray for very clear guidance for those involved in the decision making and pray that all obstacles will be removed so the Croydon Living Oasis shop can open soon. We believe that God can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine and are excited about this new venture and very keen to get started.

Please also pray for the staff who were made redundant when Wesley Owen closed. Many have been waiting, hoping to be employed in the new Living Oasis shop and some are struggling financially and can’t wait much longer.

We will let you know what is happening as soon as we know ourselves!

Thank you very much

Living Oasis on Facebook

Andy Twilley has set up a central Living Oasis facebook group: probably the best place for latest news. Individual branches on facebook include:

Several other branches are still branded as Wesley Owen (Bedford, Cheltenham and Edinburgh) and Manchester has a Friends of Living Oasis group.

 

March 12, 2010

Living Oasis: Leading with Coffee for this Weekend’s Openings

Posted by Phil Groom under Book Trade Ramblings, Christian Bookshops, News | Tags: , , , , , |
[16] Comments 
Updated 14/3/2010 to add Watford
Living Oasis Sutton, 10th March 2010

Living Oasis Sutton, 10th March 2010

It promises to be an exciting weekend for many of those left out in the cold by Biblica at Christmas time as Nationwide Christian Trust‘s rollout of Living Oasis stores continues around the country. Here we see the new sign up at Sutton, juxtaposed with a ‘Shop To Let’ sign, Biblica’s inglorious legacy to the UK had Living Oasis not stepped in to rescue so many of the abandoned Wesley Owen bookshops and their staff.

In places, as Ray George made clear in his recent interview with Clem Jackson, those ‘To Let’ notices are likely to remain or reappear as the new organisation seeks out better premises more suited to the new vision:

We are looking to lead with the coffee shop and not the Christian bookshop and we believe that we will add a further 60% to the turnover; this is the difference between profit and loss.

The bookshops we have acquired are too small, so in most cases we are looking to relocate. We have taken temporary leases on the current bookshop sites for either three or six months, but we’re negotiating hard. We are in a buyer’s market looking to open new shops – and that’s going to happen.

The footprint of our shops will probably be three times the size of the average Wesley Owen shop we have. We want the coffee shop to be prominent but we don’t want it to seem as though the coffee shop is all we’ve got. Off from the coffee shop there will be a separate lounge and we’re going to have child-friendly zones too.

Here, then, are this Saturday’s official Living Oasis openings, A-Z by location:

Unsurprisingly, not everyone is entirely convinced by  the Christian coffee shop idea: Johnny Laird — looking forward to Croydon’s anticipated re-opening — asks, pointedly:

Do we need to create our own Christian coffee shops, or should we be drinking our Java for Jesus in those places – those “third places” that already exist?

In the midst of all the excitement — almost palpable on facebook — it’s an uncomfortable question, but it surely needs to be asked: what do you think?

 

March 2, 2010

Living Oasis: 20 Shops, Meetings and Openings (Updated)

Posted by Phil Groom under Christian Bookshops, News | Tags: , , , , , , |
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Updated 11.30am, 5th March, 2010
Christian Marketplace, March 2010

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

Harrow

  • Saturday 13th March: Doors open as Living Oasis

Inverness

  • Saturday 13th March, 1pm: Official opening with the Revd Professor Andrew McGowan. Refreshments will be provided.

Leeds

  • 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.

South Woodford

More details will be posted as and when notified. In the meantime, you can keep track on twitter: Living Oasis

 

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