AN iconic music store loved by Pet Shop Boys frontrunner Neil Tennant has shut down after 116 years in operation.
JG Windows, in Newcastle upon Tyne’s Central Arcade closed for the final time on Friday, November 29.
Directors of the music store blamed an inability to compete with online retailers.
The store first opened in 1908 and was renowned for its wide selection of musical instruments, accessories, sheet music, and recorded music.
A notice on the shop front read: “We would like to thank everyone for their support, custom and friendship over the years.”
“After having served our loyal customers across the North East and beyond with all things musical since 1908, and being a cornerstone of the region’s musical heritage, our small business can no longer compete with large online retailers.
“It is with great sadness that we announce that JG Windows has closed permanently.”
The announcement of the closure has devastated fans, prompting many to express their feelings on social media.
Among the fans is Neil Tennant, the lead vocalist and co-founder of the Pet Shop Boys.
He said in a post on Facebook: “As a teenager I used to visit after school and ask to listen to David Bowie in one of their stereo listening booths and then browse through the records and sheet music and wish I could afford a posh guitar.”
Adding: “It will be much missed.”
Another seasoned shopper said: “This is absolutely devastating. Where can we go to actually try musical instruments now?
“There’s no way I would buy, say, a new guitar online.
“I want to try at least two or three and pick the one that feels right to me, because instruments are really personal and subjective. Really gutted.”
A third shopper said: “My dad and grandad bought TVs, stereos at this store with the best customer service. Sad for all the staff. Thank you Windows.”
Shop general manager, Alex Cole, told BBC News he was deeply saddened by the closure.
He said: “Generations of musicians and music lovers, including my family and myself, bought their first instrument, listened to their first LP, or learned their first song within the iconic arcade store.
“The city will be a quieter place without it.”
JG Windows was put up for sale last year, but a buyer has still not been found.
However, liquidators Andrew Little and Gillian Sayburn of Begbies Traynor have said that there is still time for a buyer to come forward before the company’s liquidation date on December 12.
Little added: “Its closure is incredibly sad and bears no reflection on the firm’s directors who have ceaselessly gone above and beyond to try and drive the business forward.
“Trading has been so difficult, they just couldn’t see a way to carry on.”
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
