Survival(!) of an independent classical CD shop!

[french frank]

PS I take exception to shops flitting about all over the place.

Shops should stay put.

"With varying vanities, from every part,
They shift the moving toyshop ..."

A Pope (don't ask which one)

[cloughie]

I think I'll add a ? to the thread title - we don't want to start rumours!

'twould never do!

[hafod]

I last visited BCD in the early summer. They had moved to the other side of the road. The new shop was smaller and long and narrow with a modern style internal fit in a dark finish and rather gloomy I thought compared with the old shop which was light and airy and had that large central browsing island. The ambience had gone. Although I live only 40 minutes drive away I have not felt like going back despite visiting Bath about once a month.

[johnb]

Why is there never a hole to sink into when you need one? I feel embarrassed and rather foolish.

(On the other hand I would probably have continued to believe the shop had closed if I hadn't posted here. I rarely, if ever, buy The Gramophone or the BBC Music Magazine and very seldom look at BCD's website.)

[cloughie]

Why is there never a hole to sink into when you need one? I feel embarrassed and rather foolish.

(On the other hand I would probably have continued to believe the shop had closed if I hadn't posted here. I rarely, if ever, buy The Gramophone or the BBC Music Magazine and very seldom look at BCD's website.)

...but you livened up a wet Bank Holiday.....

[amateur51]

...but you livened up a wet Bank Holiday.....

.. and you created a high level of interest in and awareness of the shop (wherever it is)

[Byas'd Opinion]

They now seem to be sharing premises with their former neighbours, Broad Street Jazz, at number 27

Broad Street Jazz now resides at number 27 Broad Street where we share premises with our former neighbours Bath Compact Discs.

http://www.broadstreetjazz.co.uk/abo...streetjazz.php

[Pabmusic]

They now seem to be sharing premises with their former neighbours, Broad Street Jazz, at number 27

http://www.broadstreetjazz.co.uk/abo...streetjazz.php

Another case for Mark twain's "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated".

[Bryn]

Just in:

Thanks very much for pointing this out to us! We are indeed still in
business, and have moved to a shop opposite the old one. I'll get a post on
the thread later today to clarify matters.

Best wishes,

Steve
Bath CDs

[french frank]

Thanks, Bryn - I've clarified the title still further. Just in case ...

[Flosshilde]

If you pop round to Foyles in Charing Cross Road you will find an unexpected delight. They even have a small, but interesting, second hand selection. Take the lift or stairs to the 3rd floor. Great selection of contemporary music as well.

I can while away a pleasant hour or two in there as well as in the military history department on the floor below.

Have their employment policies improved since I last boycotted them? (Or is it just that other businesses have gone down the same route )

(Actually it was also their dreadfully cumbersome purchasing procedure - queuing to get a chit for the book you wanted - if you managed to find it in the chaotic shelves - then queuing at the cash desk to pay for it, then going back to queue to hand over the receipt & collect the book )

[amateur51]

Have their employment policies improved since I last boycotted them? (Or is it just that other businesses have gone down the same route )

(Actually it was also their dreadfully cumbersome purchasing procedure - queuing to get a chit for the book you wanted - if you managed to find it in the chaotic shelves - then queuing at the cash desk to pay for it, then going back to queue to hand over the receipt & collect the book )

I think that all changed when Christina Foyle died, Flossie. I've heard tell of automatic cash registers, happy staff, books no longer arranged by publisher, y'know - like a proper bookshop?

When I pay them a visit in the not-too-distant, I'll post a review. Another reputation that the old Foyles had was 'the bookshop easiest to steal from'c and a friend used to regard it as a matter of honour to 'liberate' a choice item on every visit he made - reprehensible I know but it did make us laugh

[johnb]

Another case for Mark twain's "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated".

Partly true.

I went over to Bath this morning and visited the new shop.

I realise that the economic pressures on small independent record shops have been intense and that it is a small miracle that BCD has survived.

However, the new shop is much smaller, rather gloomy and has little or none of the buzz and airy delight of the former premises which, incidentally, were in an ideal location. (There is a small jazz section right at the back of the new shop.) The person behind the till said that they had the same level of stock on display - something I find barely credible. I would have said that the stock level had halved. That might be wrong but perception is an important factor.

They might have had no alternative but to find a less expensive location but I fear this cannot help their local trade. Their first priority should be to get their website back to full working order and to make sure it is accurate. The next should be to explore the possibilities of an online ordering facility.

Anyway, one good thing was that I took the opportunity to explore Toppings, a book shop just a few yards away on the corner of Broad Street and The Paragon. It has a narrow-ish frontage but goes back almost endlessly. So much more exciting and interesting than Waterstone's. I emphatically urge anyone visiting Bath to explore the shop.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

...but you livened up a wet Bank Holiday.....

- like a pantomime: "It's behind you!"

[Flosshilde]

I think that all changed when Christina Foyle died, Flossie. I've heard tell of automatic cash registers, happy staff, books no longer arranged by publisher, y'know - like a proper bookshop?

When I pay them a visit in the not-too-distant, I'll post a review. Another reputation that the old Foyles had was 'the bookshop easiest to steal from'c and a friend used to regard it as a matter of honour to 'liberate' a choice item on every visit he made - reprehensible I know but it did make us laugh

I did pop in on a recent visit to London & it looked much improved - light, with decent shelves & books organised properly, but with still a little of the warren-like atmosphere to make it interesting (& only mildly frustrating). As you say, like a proper bookshop