Tram works close Sony shop

Published on Thursday 9 February 2012 02:17

Electronics giant Sony is to close one of its Edinburgh showrooms, citing the tram works as the reason.

Sony Centre is to close its Shandwick Place store on Saturday – advertisingit with a picture of the works outside its shop and the slogan “Sometimes you have to know when to quit!”

Sony has two other branches in the capital – in Stockbridge and Morningside.

Independent deli Cockburn’s was one of the first victims of the tram work and credit crunch double-whammy in 2008. Other retailers have recently pulled out of the area, including furniture chain Habitat, which went into administration last year.

The latest round tram works began last month, with Shandwick Place closed from 14 January. Some 107 firms in Edinburgh have cited the effect of the tram works alone in appealing for reduced business rates.

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16

Whats uppp

Friday, February 17, 2012 at 11:41 PM

To the first person who commented on this story I think that you are out of order with the comment you have made. I have purchased products from the Sony Centre's in Edinburgh and got excellent service from them. I purchased a TV from them which was the same price as John Lewis and Currys it also included the 5 Year Warranty which most internet retailers don''t give. They had it in stock so I was able to take it home. When I got home I had some problems with the set it up so I called the shop and one of the members of staff was able to pop in on his way home to help me out now you tell me any other shop that would go out of they way to help I don't think so and as the Sony Centre are independently owned I think they give a bit more extra service than the big retailers.

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15

Vote 'NO'

Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 08:01 PM

10. Indeed, who cares. W don't need the or the revenues they give to Edinburgh. I'm guessing you agreed with Salmond's support for the Goodwin-led RBS's disastrous buyout of ABN Amro, the deal that nearly bust our biggest bank?

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14

Still Douglas

Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 12:40 PM

Welcome to the Bravia new world, Vaio con dios Sony shop

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13

Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 01:58 PM

#9: Those will be the grot shops that moved into the places left vacant when the decent businesses moved out then. Won't they? Whichever way you look at it, the decline of Edinburgh started when Begg and Lazarowicz were allowed to impliment their hare-brained anti-car schemes and it has continued downwards ever since. The trams are about the last straw. It is still not to late to scrap the entire thing.

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12

MOCO

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 10:55 AM

The basic problem is that most of those Edinburgh councillors who supported trams and are still doing so are public sector clones who - unlike Sony or the smallest one-man business - have never been required to to balance the books. For example, the current transport convener is a social worker - and is there any more incompetent or financially illiterate organisation than a local authority social work department? This is why the huge financial cost of creating a (half) tram line for this city is totally irrelevant to their way of thinking.

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11

Irritatingly Intelligent Chauvinist

Friday, February 10, 2012 at 02:18 AM

I doubt wether the tram works helped the (or any other) business in any way.

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10

thedugsbaws

Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 09:33 PM

who cares,

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9

WOTTPI

Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 05:23 PM

8 Being one of the richest countries in the world how about having both nice shops and trams. Along with the rip off merchants there are plenty grot shops along the tram route that I would happily see go to the wall.

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8

leithforme

Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 03:38 PM

how about a poll, what would you rather have, nice shops or trams, ken which one I'll be clicking ;-)

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7

jingsmaboab

Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 02:26 PM

Sadly, when a business fails, it is all too often the case that the search for someone else to blame starts. Owners and managers often don't want to admit that it might have been something to do with them! Last time I was in that Sony store was at least a decade ago, and even then I thought it was dear. They had some items which, at that time, were difficult to source elsewhere. Now you can just buy most of this stuff online for much less, or from discount outlets. I'm sure the tram works had an impact on this particular shop, but it is not the whole story.

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6

WOTTPI

Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 02:24 PM

5 The tram is a convenient excuse. Businesses are failing and shops are shutting around the country in places where there are no trams. The facts are simple, Sony were too expensive at atime when plenty competitors are selling their products at a discounted rate. If they had such a niche market with loyal customers then they would still be operating like many other niche shops and businesses along the tram route. The fact is that those who have shouted loudest in the press about the trams damaging their business over the last few years are the ones that still appear to be open as a going concern. Go figure.

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5

Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head

Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 01:51 PM

#1: Its not all about price. Fair enough, some people (you and I included) will trawl through the internet etc to find the best deal. However, many others will walk into a shop and buy the product there and then---perhaps because they can't be bothered looking around. Perhaps because some of them think that any product bought elsewhere will be a different product. Perhaps because the Sony shop offers better benefits in other ways (such as credit or guarantees). Or perhaps even because the salesmen in the Sony shop are good. The tram has destroyed businesses in Edinburgh like nothing else before. It is reasonable to assume that it has also forced this shop to close.

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4

Curious Yellow

Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 01:48 PM

I agree with #1 - the Sony Store is simply far too dear, when you can buy the stuff elsewhere for less. The Sony Store used to be on George Street; it wasn't the trams that made them move then.

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3

e2toe4

Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 01:02 PM

The tram is left as a relic of a bygone age of vanity.... the Greens support it as a totem, disregarding the 100,000s of people whose day to day lives will be made worse through the catatsrophic destruction of the ability of the city to handle it's traffic. The others just wish it was built, and that people would then forget about the money and the problems---but this building period isn't a temporary--although ridiculously long one..... situation. The dislocation of traffic and the willful blindness in proposing any solutions within the tram plan, mean that 'what we see now is what we get...for ever' ---thyere will be no money for decades to do anything other than play at finding solutions--the road pricing reflexive option, would risk further accelerating the decline of the city centre as a commerical heart and exacorbating the problems....... the problems aren't over once the tram starts trundling, they are only just beginning.

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2

Gavin1979

Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 10:01 AM

Well soon we will have a tram line on princes street but no shop who ever thought of the idea to bring back trams never thought much about the security of business and the development of the aconamy like this country it does not know which way so swing

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