death of an institution?

there were rumours floating around, and the website has been down for a little while, but having just had the opportunity to walk past, it really does seem that James Redshaw, Lichfield's independent bookshop has finally died. There is a notice in the window stating that due to the economic downturn, James Redshaw Ltd ceased trading on 30 June 2009. A few years ago it was bought out by S&J Music, a wonderful little music shop, and just over a year ago both shops moved from Dam Street to a larger premise in Bird Street. This was not one of those bookshops in which you could spend a blissful afternoon browsing the shelves and having a sneaky read, but they did pride themselves on being able to track down pretty much anything and get it in very quickly. James Redshaw was also a very strong and loyal supporter of local authors, something that will surely be missed now that they are gone.
Lichfield Festival took over the running of the Lichfield Literary Dinner in 2006, after James Redshaw had been running it incredibly successfully for 30 years. This year's Literary Dinner takes place on Friday 9 October as part of Lichfield Literature and will feature Kate Adie speaking.