quote:

Originally posted by Hive:
I asked if they were going to be in the new shopping centre, and they said no. It's all very odd, and bloody irritating too, because (as you say, mrsk), it's the only bookshop there.

I complained about the tube station closing at 5 mins notice (for all the good it did), and I think I might email Books Etc to ask why they've pulled out.

I'm not a Bush dweller, mrsk, but I'm not far, and I walk through the Bush four times a day taking my kid to and from school.

They're owned by Borders, so I'm guessing there will be a big Borders in the new shopping centre. West 12 has got so many empty units now (though some nice new fancy toilets!), and its never particularly busy there, so I guess it just doesn't draw the business. Yesterday was actuall the busiest I've ever seen it (except on Harry Potter launch nights!). Guess in future I'll just have to jump on the bus for 15 minutes to get to Notting Hill Waterstones.

And as for the tube station.. We have 3 others and huge numbers of buses, so I can't see the huge issue with the tube station closing.. 10 minute walk to White City, or 5 minutes on bus from Holland Park - and they're even laying on a free bus to Whit City!

I rang Borders, and they said, no, there won't be one in the new centre, but there might be a Waterstones. They cited the tube shutting as the killer blow for a shop already on the edge of economic viability.

As for the tube - it's been less inconvenient than I thought, mainly because if I want the central line I just walk up to Holland Park, but it's irritating that they are happy to divert 20,000 travellers a day on five minutes' notice. Plus, it killed the best coffee stand in the area!

I don't have a problem with them closing the station, as there are so many other stations in and around Shepherds Bush. However, when they close it on the same day that the H&C line is shut and QPR are playing at home, it's pretty stupid. I haven't got a response to my email asking if it was incompetence or malice that they shut both on the same day.

*shrugs*

I'm still to find anyone that actually lives in the bush complaining.. Stupid QPR supporters parking where ever the hell they like is a damn site more of a problem to me..

And the station was ALWAYS going to be knocked down eventually, so that little coffee shop was always going to go I'm afraid. And there was a months notice. Thats really plenty to work out whether to walk 10 minutes to Holland Park, or 10 minutes to White City.
And the escalators in the station only worked 50% of the time, even if they did have another 2 or 3 years left in their service life.. When the station was planned to be closed for 11 months - with the additional passengers shopping at Westfields.

And, as I said, I've noticed no down turn in business in the shopping centre, been as busy (or not as the case may be) as ever. Books Etc, I feel, are bullshitting about it being the tube station causing them to close, as the tube station had only been shut a week. That is not anywhere near enough time to see if its affecting business. Books Etc was lightly used, and has been as long as its been there. I very rarely seen more than two or three people in there, and have shopped there regularly since it opened (Krad and I remember the concrete monstrosity that was West 12 before it was rebuilt all shiny and two storied). They were particularly poor at ordering books in, (unable to find them on "their system" alot of the time), and stocked so little. Last 3 times I went in there they had NO neil gaiman books, as an example. The plans for the Westfields centre were there and available WAY before Books etc opened (as I said before, Krad and I went to see them February 1999), so they can hardly complain about that either..

If Peacocks closes though, then watch me fight *lmao* (Peacocks does pre-date the Westfield plans, as does Argos, Morrisons, that awesome little iron mongers, and the key cutting / shoe repair place. Every thing else is post-West 12 refurb)

They've always had Gaiman books when I've looked, including one that I couldn't find anywhere else! (Getting back on-topic, Stardust is on half-price there at the moment, although the rest are still full price.) And the kids' section, which is the bit I used most, was good, and always had other kids there when we've been.

Oh, well.

quote:

Originally posted by Hive:
They've always had Gaiman books when I've looked, including one that I couldn't find anywhere else! (Getting back on-topic, Stardust is on half-price there at the moment, although the rest are still full price.) And the kids' section, which is the bit I used most, was good, and always had other kids there when we've been.
Oh, well.

Already got Stardust. Not from Books etc as it was before the film.
the kids section was pretty good, and the cafe did the only decent coffee available in the shopping centre.. But, if you compare it to Waterstones two miles up the road in Notting Hill, it had very few customers. Admitedly, I was more likely to use it on my day off, mid week, so fewer kids there then!

And *huffs* When I asked where I might find Pattern Recognition by William Gibson, I was told he wasn't a popular author!! *L* (I found it in the end, in the general fiction section!)

ut honestly, the tube station is not to blame for them closing.. They could, in no way, have judged the impact from one weeks trading, and then taken the decision to close, and start the closing down sale, within only hours of that decision.

Amazing. Never realized that SO many Londoners were among us!

quote:

And *huffs* When I asked where I might find Pattern Recognition by William Gibson, I was told he wasn't a popular author!! *L* (I found it in the end, in the general fiction section!)

Interesting...

When I first bought Neuromancer, I had to import the book. During the last weeks, everything written by WG that "Livraria Cultura" imports sells in less than one week...

i just got a packet of crisps for free. i asked the girl if she had been jumping up on down on them, as they were so crushed. and she said she wouldn't charge me for them. sorted.

Found out yesterday that as Mrs Bk is a full time student, we're entitled to 25% off our Council Tax. They're going to back date it.

Now I know that Bargain and Council Tax should never be heard in the same sentence, but I'm rather pleased all the same.

thats pretty cool.
every little helps.
as the saying goes.

Yep, circa £150 back. My FujiFinepix broke last week so maybe put it down against a Nokia D40 digi SLR... or maybe towards a garden shed!

I miss my little camera but a bigger lens will help

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bictaker,

I am reading my brand new, hard cover copy of "random acts of sensless violence" by Jack Womack that I bought for $1.29 at a dollar store.

There were two more copies left...

I also got a new hard cover PR from Value Village for $3.00.

glister 2 - andi watson - reduced from £3.99 to £1.99
glister 3 - andi watson - reduced from £3.99 to £1.99
zero/six 1 - youjung lee - apparently reduced from £16.99 to £1.99
zero/six 2 - youjung lee - apparently reduced from £16.99 to £1.99
clubbing - andi watson/josh howard - reduced from £6.99 to £1.99
nothing but loving you - erica sakurazawa - reduced from £6.99 to £1.99
the grave robber's daughter - richard sala - reduced from £6.99 to £1.99
odd and the frost giants - neil gaiman - £1 for world book day

Wanna send a postcard, but are too cheap to pay for a stamp?

If you don't mind pictures of women in their underwear, you can send up to 10 free postcards a day from this site:

http://www.postcards.dk/triumph/

Note the user interface is in Danish, and there are only 10 free postcards per day, but basically nobody knows about this site, so we can use it for WGBunderwearMail!