Now you see them, now you don’t: Christmas is over and 27 Christian bookshops have been unceremoniously wiped off the map. Officially only 26 shops have vanished: Biblica/IBS-STL UK operated 40 branches of Wesley Owen, of which 14 have been saved by Koorong and CLC. The figure of 27 derives from the 41 branches previously … Continue reading
Posted in December 2009 …
To all this blog’s friends and supporters, with best wishes for Christmas and the coming year
THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time during this past year to visit, comment, or otherwise contribute to this or the SPCK/SSG blog: it’s been an honour and a privilege working with you. My gift to you all, a small token of my appreciation, is a goat, courtesy of Farm Africa. Rather than … Continue reading
A fresh start, an exciting future: A message from Ken Munro, new CEO of STL Distribution
Ken Munro, new CEO of STL Distribution, has today written to STL’s trade customers to announce that “STL Distribution is back in business and working hard to return to the standard of service both suppliers and retailers have come to expect over the years.” As well as restocking the warehouse and working to re-establish agreements … Continue reading
Tidying Up: Jobs page added; Day of Prayer page archived
Jobs Page Added Given recent developments, it’s inevitable that some people will be seeking new jobs. With those people in mind, I’ve added a new page: Jobs. It’s open to all Christian employers and prospective employees to exchange details subject to acceptance of the following terms, cited on the page: Please note that no endorsement … Continue reading
Wesley Owen: Expressions of Interest in Remaining Stores Welcomed
Details of the new ownership of IBS-STL UK’s three trading divisions have now been confirmed in an official press release issued today (full text below | pdf, 102kb) as follows: Authentic Music has been bought by Kingsway Communications. Authentic Book Publishing and 8 Wesley Owen Stores (Bath Birmingham, Bristol, Bromley, Coleraine, Derby, Glasgow and York … Continue reading
Wesley Owen: Excerpt from Press Release
Robin Parry has posted the following excerpt from a press release issued on Friday 18/12/2009: Authentic Book Publishing (including Paternoster)and 8 Wesley Owen Stores (Bath Birmingham, Bristol, Bromley, Coleraine, Derby, Glasgow and York) have been sold to Koorong, which is owned by the Bootes family. Based in Sydney, Koorong has 18 stores operating successfully throughout … Continue reading
Wesley Owen: 26 Branches Enter Administration, Others Sold (Updated)
21/12/2009: The official press release is now out and no further updates to this page will be posted. Comments remain open. From Wesley Owen Edinburgh’s facebook page, posted on Friday 18/12/2009 at 21.14: We are now in administration and will be closing shortly. As will almost all of the Wesley Owen shops. I thank you … Continue reading
STL UK and the Abominable Silence
Sometimes, silence is golden. Other times, it’s terrifying: someone we love breathes their last and the silence suddenly stretches to eternity… It feels a bit like that with STL UK. We all know that STL as we once knew it is finished. We also know that deals have been done behind closed doors: we watch … Continue reading
Publishers and Suppliers Supporting Retailers
Several publishers and suppliers have been in touch recently with details of action they’re taking to offer retailers extra support through the current period of uncertainty with STL and/or during the run up to Christmas. This post provides a round up of the information I’ve gleaned or received so far; it is, of course, far … Continue reading
Call for Brewer Creditors to Speak Out
Over on the SPCK/SSG News Blog we have issued a call for creditors to speak out about the monies owed to them by Messrs J Mark and Philip W Brewer. Following the Interim Manager’s call for creditors to submit claims, we now have some degree of national media attention, and there may never be a … Continue reading
The Christian Bookshops Blog 