Dear All
It has been brought to our attention today by a few of our Stage Dancewear friends & customers about an e-mail which has been sent to you all from a Warrington Dance Store which does not name us but some of it is obviously referring to us. We have seen this e-mail. Therefore although we do not need to explain ourselves or justify anything as we have done nothing underhand or wrong, we would like to naturally provide the true facts and our side of the situation as what was said in the e-mail is not exactly reflective of what the catalogue of events have been and we are shocked at the indirect comments with negative slants regarding our well established business, it’s standards of service, products and shoe fittings.
1) We were informed of This stores closing many many months prior to any of this … we spoke of opening in Warrington in 2018 and were looking at premises to find a suitable place in location and size – we opened our Dance shop side of the business in 2012 in Rainhill (in addition to the printing business)and since then the shop and online business has grown year on year – we have outgrown our Rainhill store and naturally have wanted to try to expand the business – Warrington being our main target area.
2) We were informed This store had decided to close in October in Summer – as a dance store ourselves this was sad to hear as we have sent many customers to This store over the years if it was the case we did not have a particular item they were in a rush for or did not stock. We discovered in our property search that the This stores premises was advertised for let in August last year. Our thoughts were that it was a great location, This store was closing leaving no dance shop in Warrington however we needed to view to check it would be a justifiable move in terms of enough space/sales area etc.
3) We made an appointment to view the property with the agent, as did other potential tennants and went along. After seeing the premises we went and had discussions and decided to put an offer in.
Following discussions and meeting with the landlord, who had received prior written notice including via a solicitor from The stores owner stating that they would be vacating end of October, we signed the lease to move in November 2019. We were then also informed that This store had decided many months ago to close in October 2019 if no sale was forthcoming – the fixed lease they had expired many months prior, and had moved onto a rolling month by month lease. We were informed This store had been advised on a number of occasions to take out another lease, especially if they wanted to sell the business as any potential buyer would expect a fixed lease to be in place, but apparently this advice was not taken. We also were informed that it was agreed between them and the landlord that no letting advertising board would be put on the premises so as not to interfere with selling off stock etc.
We simply viewed the soon to be empty premises via the agent, as a potential tennant as did many others.
4) Following our first announcement that we were opening in Warrington in 4b Bold Street, we received notification that there was a risk since This store had found out, that they may refuse to vacate as per the notice they had given – this actually became the case leaving us in a very uncertain situation. Luckily we had already decided to keep our Rainhill store open so were able to still trade. There were also apparently further unfactual comments made regarding our move to Warrington to 4b Bold Street including one or two posted on our social media which obviously have come from a particular source which we will not comment on … all of this came as a complete shock to us.
At the end of the day, the true facts are, a business had decided to close it’s doors as no sale was forthcoming, the landlord, with the tennants knowledge and agreement, advertised the premises, we went to the agent, we viewed the premises, we agreed and signed the lease, and announced our move – all following written notice from This store stating that they were vacating end of October. We did not then expect to have the premises still not available two months later.
5) As a business we have to do what is best for the business we have worked tirelessly to build up from scratch. All of this has been very difficult, stressful and not ideal especially having announced and having customers and dance schools messaging in anticipation of our opening. We were left with no other option but to seek alternative premises as we could not carry on with the uncertainty of the This store tennant staying open, staying put, moving out or? – we had commited to our wish to move to Warrington and were forced to look elsewhere irrespective of the This store premises situation. We have competition already in our current Rainhill store and have done since opening therefore it was never something that would hinder or put our opening in Warrington in doubt.
6) We found an alternative ideal premises, we went to view and agreed just before Christmas. We received a call on New Years eve stating that This store had again given notice to vacate end of January, unfortunately we had already set our hearts on this new premises, had agreed but irrespective of this could not risk another change of mind from This store come the end of January.
Irrespective of This stores decisions or situation, we had finally committed to opening in Warrington after many months of thinking and looking. Our new store will be ready mid March and we are looking forward to the new exciting Stage Dancewear Warrington.
7) On the comments made regarding standards of service, products, shoe fittings – we would not expect any other store than ourselves and our staff to be concerned about Stage Dancewear service, products, shoe fittings other than Stage Dancewear and it’s staff- we do not need any other outside individual to ‘be responsible’ for our business or service. We are very proud of what we have built up with Stage Dancewear UK over the last 7 years from scratch and we have many many loyal and happy dance schools and customers near and far. We obviously have no need to purchase any other dance shop business – this would have not made any business sense as we already have a well established business. We do feel this whole situation could have been handled very differently by certain parties, but unfortunately not everyone is the same.
If any of you would like any further clarification please do contact us by e-mail or message our social media and we will be more than happy to provide that for you.
Apologies for this long out of the blue e-mail but we felt it important after what has been sent to you all that we had to provide some facts & information. We are disappointed to have to explain ourselves but felt we needed to given the situation and rumours.
We would obviously hope to see you all at some point in our new store or in our Rainhill store – I know some of you already and can’t wait to see what Warrington brings to Stage Dancewear and vice versa. As can be seen through our business, service and feedback and on all our socials we are a very caring, supportive, family run small business with daughters and staff in the dance world and it is our passion. We strive to provide the best service we can and to be the best we can be.
Hope to see you all soon thanks for reading .
Sue & Team Stage Dancewear UK
489 Warrington Road
Rainhill
L35 0LR
Opening late March 2020:
Stage Dancewear
Unit 3
40 Horsemarket Street
Warrington
WA1 1XN