Phil Groom writes:
I’ll make this brief, as I expect most of you are up to speed with the Wesley Owen situation. If you aren’t: essentially, the bubble burst on Friday afternoon, 18/12/2009, 5.35pm, when shop staff were notified that their shops were either going into administration (26 branches) or had been sold to CLC (6 branches) / Koorong (8 or 9 branches, plus the website and the brand name).
More info here, Wesley Owen: 26 Branches Enter Administration, Others Sold (Updated), where I’m also compiling a roundup of reports and blog reactions. Dave Walker has also posted on the Church Times blog, Wesley Owen Christian bookshops in administration, and David Green, aka wannabepriest, has posted some interesting reflections here: What now for Christian books in the UK?
Please keep all the staff affected in your prayers. If you live in a town with a branch of Wesley Owen, please call in and tell them you love them. Buy them a big box of chocs or a card or something. If you’re an ex-SPCK bookseller, please take this opportunity to give these guys the moral support you wish you’d had when it was your turn.
Sometime today we’re expecting an official press release. Please leave a comment with a link if you see it before I do…
- Update, 2.40pm: The official press release is now out: Wesley Owen: Expressions of Interest in Remaining Stores Welcomed
SPCK/SSG: News, Notes & Info 