A projected loss of £250,000 for the financial year ending on 31 March has forced the closure of seven BBC shops, including the one at Bush House in London, which is especially popular with overseas visitors to London. BBC Worldwide managing director of home entertainment, Chris Weller, told BBC in-house magazine Ariel that “This decision is a commercial imperative and nothing to do with the fantastic people who work in the shops. BBC products are available in all the big chains which, with a hit like Planet Earth, slash the price to the bone. We just can’t compete.” Five other BBC shops in Brighton, Leicester, Birmingham, Eastbourne and Liverpool, run by the corporation’s nations and regions division, will be unaffected by the decision.
Andy Sennitt comments: The BBC Shop at Bush House was a very useful place to buy a range of products, not only from the BBC, but about international broadcasting generally. I remember they used to sell the World Radio TV Handbook when I was the editor. I wonder if they’ll be holding a closing down sale.
on Feb 28th, 2007 at 16:14
Always an essential stop off point on a visit to London. As Andy mentioned they had lots of non BBC stuff on sale as well. Will definetly be making a visit there before 31st March.
on Feb 28th, 2007 at 20:35
That’s a shame! I wonder what they are going to do with the premises of the Bush House shop?
on Feb 28th, 2007 at 20:52
I was at the BBC World Service shop at Bush House in May 2006. Total number of shortwave titles (2) Two. I was the at the BBC World Service shop in May 2005 total number of shortwave titles three, but they stopped carrying ‘Shortwave Magazine’
When I first visited the shop ten or so years ago they had dozens of shortwave related titles including research from ABAR, but like everything else related to shortwave ‘times have changed
on Mar 1st, 2007 at 10:18
This story featured in the Norwich Eastern Daily Press recently. The unfortunate thing is the Norwich branch was one of those making a profit.
on Apr 27th, 2007 at 14:24
The website http://www.bbcshop.com is stil lrunning for you to buy all things BBC!
on May 3rd, 2007 at 15:12
I went to visit Bush House and Marylebone High Street shops last weekend but was too late. Customer Services though have been brilliant.
on Jun 25th, 2007 at 09:23
Every year, my family and I visited the BBC shop at Bush House. The visit became a tradition for us, a sort of pilgrimage which included Bush House, the Courtauld and the nearby airmen’s church. We always looked forward to our visit.
When we arrived this year, in late June, the BBC shop was dark, the windows papered over and filmed with dust, the shelves empty, tables and chairs overturned, litter strewn at the entrance. You can imagine our disappointment, and perhaps some of you will share our nostalgia.
The notice pasted to the door announced that items could still be purchased online. So they could when the shop was open. But nothing compares with a visit–picking up the merchandise, touching the boxes, anticipating the visual delight, speaking to the staff, clutching your stuff as you leave the shop.
It is a great shame that this institution has vanished.
on May 1st, 2008 at 01:44
The BBC is supposed to be a public service broadcaster. Public service broadcasters don’t do retail, they should have left that to the professionals.
£250,000 loss is not acceptable and heads should have rolled because of this.
on May 14th, 2008 at 16:12
I wish I had read this post before trying to track down the shop near Oxford Station. Where will I go for my “I Am the Stig” t-shirts now?
on May 15th, 2008 at 06:26
The BBC likes to promote it’s output through CD’s,audiotapes,DVD’s,CD-ROM’s etc-where will people get these now?
on May 15th, 2008 at 13:01
Just go to be BBC shop website. You can get everything you want from there,
including the Stig shirts, mugs ect.
Just type in Stig into the search engine,
http://www.bbcshop.com/page/home
on Mar 2nd, 2012 at 12:01
AS I E-MAIL FROM THE LOCAL LIBRARY, AND ONLY HAVE ACESS TO PAYING FOR THINGS BY POSTAL ORDER AT PRESENT IWOULD LIKE TO KNOW
THE CURRENT LIST OF ALL THE BBC SHOPS WHERE YOU MAY BUY BBC DVDS, INCLUDING ANY BRANCHES STILL LEFT IN LONDON
I WOULD BE VERY GREATFUL FOR THIS INFORMATION AS WHEN IN LONDON RECENTLY I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO FIND A BBC SHOP
I TRAVEL AROUND BY TRAIN AS I HAVE A DISABILITY MAKING LONG WALKS DIFFICAULT, AND MY BBC DVDS GIVE ME SO MUCH PLEASURE. I AM CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR A SET OF ALL FOUR INDIVIDUAL SERIES OF MONTY PYTHONS FLYING CIRCUS, THAT I MAY PURCASE. I AM ONLY INTERESTED IN COPYS IN THE FOUR INDIVIDUAL SERIES BOXES (AND NOT THE ONE WHERE ALL ARE IN A BROWN CARD BOX)
MR ADRESS IS AS FOLLOWS
MR A J CLAYDEN
17 LYNTON ROAD SOUTH
GRAVESEND
KENT
DA11 7NF