Article on the Life of Mandala from the Journal June 2000 Announcing the Closure of Mandala and the Reasons Visit the old Mandala Page for old time sake Dear Mandala Customers,
It is with great sadness that I have to say that Mandala has closed on Thursday, June 22nd, 2000.
The reign of this supreme Natural Foodstore was celebrated with a party, with many customers attending to reflect, share stories and celebrate. It was a mixture of joy and deep loss felt by the staff and customers alike. Certain aspects will be carried on by Healing Touch UK, particularly mail order of relaxation music, selected books and incense and through our Reiki seminars and local Mind Body festivals.
Some of the Customers and Staff
The following is a letter given to explain the closure.
I felt you were entitled to an explanation as loyal supporters of our shop, some of you have supported this shop for most of its 25 years of existence!
The shop has been one of the pioneers of the natural food movement and green consumerism in Newcastle. These issues have as you will be aware, become much more mainstream in recent years e.g. the GM Foods, Organic foods, ethical investments, Fair Trade etc. As philosophy becomes more accepted, they are taken on by the large and dominant retailing businesses. In the end the independent pioneers tend to be out paced by the giants. This has certainly been the trend in the Natural food trade, where Health Food Stores and Wholefood stores have closed - it is a national trend, and a general trend for all independent retailers. The writing is on the wall - as local authorities allow the development of out of town shopping the local and traditional retailing outlets in suburbs and town centres diminish in popularity. The population of the UK are programmed to follow this trend.
Our main reasons for making this decisions are as follows:
Sale of Shop/Lease We have attempted to find a new owner for over a year, and there is no one interested in continuing the business in its present form or in some variant for the remainder of the 15 years of the lease.
The Building A factor in the above is the building: It was converted to a shop decades ago and the workmanship was poor to say the least! Decades of neglect and poor repair workmanship also have taken their toll. Now the building needs major structural upgrade and strengthening, with all the expense and disruption to trade. No potential incoming tenant is prepared to take this on and neither are we in the present trading circumstances.
Change of use No new trader is willing to change the retail trade of the premises and take on the liabilities of the building. The use of the building is also restricted to "retail" trades, and excludes the more popular catering and hot food take-away trades.
Changes in shopping and eating habits Over the years customers have been 'voting' with their feet (or driving) to other shops, including supermarkets and so called "ethical stores" for similar or the same products range. There has been an increase in Organic Fresh Food activity through local box scheme suppliers. and there is a growing interest in Bulk Buying Co-operatives. The last 10 years has seen the growth in convenience foods, cafés, restaurants and hot food outlets. Now people cook less, and watch TV cookery programs whilst eating a take-away instead! The days of the raw ingredient are numbered!
Location Locally, the shop is perhaps now not in a favourable area: The recently developed Cradlewell bypass and traffic calming humps have tended to isolate the area and there is little through traffic. The expansion of multi-tenancy, particularly for non-mature students has not brought new custom but tended to block the streets with cars - reducing customer parking, lower the cleanliness and tidiness of the locale. The old "friendly neighbourhood" image is diminishing.
The decision Bearing all this in mind, by seeing clearly the trends and activities of people in our locality, we have decided to close down before any debt is accrued to suppliers etc. We take this decision as responsible individuals. However, the breaking up of this long standing Jesmond "institution and community service" is poignant, and financially burdensome. There is a loss of work for the owners, the skilled and friendly staff, and through the termination of the lease, a large surrender fee for the Landlord. But in the long term it is the only logical solution to escape "Catch 22".
May I express my heartfelt thanks to all of our loyal customers for your support and friendship in the last 13 years.
Gordon Bell (Partner) 25th May 2000
Visit the old Mandala Page for old time sake
Last Updated: June 2000
