Shops combine to beat squeeze

TWO specialist shops are joining forces in a bid to beat the tough times. St Andrew s Bookshop, currently in London Road, St Albans, is moving to share the shop currently occupied by the St Albans Sheet Music Centre in Holywell Hill. The two businesses

TWO specialist shops are joining forces in a bid to beat the tough times.

St Andrew's Bookshop, currently in London Road, St Albans, is moving to share the shop currently occupied by the St Albans Sheet Music Centre in Holywell Hill.

The two businesses will operate independently within the shop in the Cathedral Quarter of the city but share the retail expenses making it more economic for them both.

St Andrew's Bookshop continues to fly the flag for independent Christian bookselling in St Albans following on from the Crusader Book Centre which traded in the city for more than 25 years.

The Music Centre specialises in sheet music, both classical and popular, and the two businesses believe there is a natural synergy in the customer base and business ethic of both books and music.

Both have been celebrating half-a-century of trading - the Music Centre was founded 50 years ago by Ruth Barber, mother of the current owner Elizabeth Barber, while St Andrew's is a chain of 15 branches based mainly in the Home Counties which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year.

The new combined shop will opened on Monday.