Yeah right....Good one.

Do you think he really believes what he says?
Love the "then begin to think about the expansion of at least one further new store" ... Nice one! That'll hold off the big boys for a while.

From what was Academy of Sound's frequently performing number one or number two store to closure! Also you have to wonder what really went wrong when Reverb formed (with some ex Soundcontrol management) probably knowing fully the likely performance of the Leicester store and the others including Sheffield.
New store....seems unlikely to me.

Have to think that if I were a staff member at the final freehold store, I'd be looking for another job...

With all the work Sheehans have done recently to improve the Leicester store.. hardly a surprise Reverb had a problem there! Well done Noel. What an example to the music retail trade!

Shame he didn't have the good grace to comment on Sheffield like that, and who worked equally hard under difficult circumstances. Andrew, you said that Sheffield was the only store that had failed, six weeks later, suddenly, there is another one. Shall we make a mark on the calendar for the end of November?? And of course it has picked up a bit, it always does after the summer! But then again, you'd know lots more about your business if you actually listened to your managers. Clueless. All of the stores that AL bought were key, profitable shops with great history and established customer bases, with well managed costs, particularly the two that have just gone. The wrecking ball continues to wreak it's havoc. I truly hope my suspicions don't come true, but I'm sure I know who's next. Keep going lads, don't give him an excuse, not that he seems to need it.

All i would say is that if Will and the team at Leicester couldnt turn it around after the way Soundcontrol left it, then nobody could!
The Leicester store used to be a showcase store for every bit of new gear, from a new type of guitar fx pedal to the latest £25,000 mixing desk this place had it all... Then Soundcontrol came along with their "model" and applied it to every single store even when proved it required a more 'flexible' approach.
I hope Will and the guys land on their feet, they tried valiantly to resurrect the vibe of the store and deserve some luck!

what a lot of rubbish the store was starved of stock from day one, everytime I went in I was told they would have to order what I wanted then would tell me they didn't know when it would arrive because they were on hold with the company,the staff didn't know what to do.It was all about the fast buck in property.Glasgow sold,Sheffield closed to sell and now Leicester.It's the staff I feel sorry for they've had the wool pulled over their eyes with false promises from the start.Oh and I hear the owner of the Birmingham store has put it up for sale!

I fail to see what baring the 'location of the site' has on the fact that, I imagine, its extremely tricky to sell tiny stocks of stuff no one wants. "Sorry, we don't have an SM58 in stock ...would you like a bright pink egg shaker?"

The original purchase of SC and creating Reverb seems to be more of an investment than someone wanting to successfully grow and enjoy a music retail business.

In answer to Gav, That is exactly why Reverb was created. Get a portion of a multi million pound company for next to nothing, let it earn money for a year and then sell. Why does everyone have to be in Love with retail why can't some people be in it for other reasons as is life with any other Business. Are the Dragons in Dragons Den in it for the Love of a new product....No

Andrew - I think the issue here is that Reverb has been promoted to the industry (and their own staff) as a genuine retailler, and although AL's comments above suggest they may expand, the closure of these two stores siting poor performance could be misleading.

Both those stores were obviously earmarked for closure as the freeholds were worth more to the company than the company projected that they could bring in - that maybe acceptable business practice, but suggesting that there are other reasons for their closure sticks in the craw for more than a few people.

The staff at both these stores and in the rest of the company deserve better, and Reverb should perhaps try being a little more honest with their peers rather than hiding behind the reasoning that they've so far given out

In reply to Ex-Arbiter, A.L. ( As people on here seem to be calling him) is hardly going to tell everyone his business strategy. If everyone knew he was going to close reverb stage by stage then they would be having every bit of stock going home with them at night.
As for the freehold situation, Glasgow has also been sold apparently according to the gossip mungering reps who go from store to store telling everyone elses business. If you don't work for Reverb then you are ok and should focus on your own business and making sure you are profitable and leave Andrew Landesberg to whatever he likes as long as it's legal.

" Glasgow has also been sold apparently according to the gossip mungering reps who go from store to store telling everyone elses business. "

.....unlike you Andrew, who posts your gossip on here you hypocrite !

Such a shame that location has done fine previously under carlsbro , soundcontrol and was best when it was academy of sound. Will was a good lad and supportive to customers for years. When. It become reverb, their stock was minuscule and stuff no one wanted like charvel guitars, there was weven less classic stuff like les Pauls and prs which they used to have a whole wall of. I once went and they didn't have a single Marshall amp and the emo kids at the till didn't have a clue. External Managemtn obviously to blame.

I agree with the other comments here. The staff were great and always helpful but the stock they had to work with was really poor. Stuff we wanted always had to be ordered which is such a shame when you go back to the old Sound Pad (yes, I'm that old lol), Carlsboro and Academy of Sound days. The location didn't help either, but can't take all the blame. If I could walk down there every Saturday with my son who's in a wheelchair then it wasn't exactly inaccessible! Hope Will, Rae and all the others find a decent store to work in after all the effort they put in.

Nice to see "Andrew" is far more concerned with lining his own pockets than the welfare of his staff - just you make sure you get rich and fat on everyone elses despair! And the difference between A.L and the Dragons.... they are successful and keep people in jobs.
I'm glad my boss has a little more consideration for those he employs.

"I once went and they didn't have a single Marshall amp and the emo kids at the till didn't have a clue."
Every person who worked for Reverb n Leicester we're passionate about the gear they sold, which included Marshalls and they gave all the help they could give to anyone who needed help. Not one person on MI Pro has commented on them not having a clue but in fact the opposite. They prouded themselves on being as helpful as possable and giving the best after sale care they could. You might be able to guess where i used to work and how i loved what i was doing.

Sorry for any spelling mistakes in my last post, i was a little wound up and didn't check.. whoopsie, it must have been my EMO FRINGE getting in the way

I will for one will miss Reverb in Leicester, Will and the rest of the staff were helpful and informative and I wish them well in the future!

Have to say that I miss the store being there as I have used the shop (in whatever format) for the last 14 years but returning to it about 12 months ago I was astounded by the poor service. Will - I think was the main guy - was helpful and everyone was polite but there was absolutely no drive to sell anything and no knowledge of the equipment.
I have walked into the shop several times with the intention of purchasing large items but walked away with hardly a word from staff; I'm not surprised its gone.
Sad for those who affected, but thats life.

Will was a top guy who always went out of his way to help you, whatever your level as a player. I will miss the excellent friendly service that I always received.

Go down to Denmark Street and try getting the same level of service - not a chance. Buy online - forget it.

It was always a pleasure to go in.

All the besy for the future Will.

Sad, that Leicester has lost a destination shop for people who liked a natter and road testing the gear, I think the staff were great , friendly and helpful, so long as you had an idea of what you wanted, as in all shops, I suppose! my son and I used to go down on a Saturday afternoon and road test the guitars, i was going to order a microkorg from them good job I didn`t ! .. The venture capitalist`s strike again!!!