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A renowned second hand London record store has closed and will be turned into a luxury hotel.
Music and Video Exchange has now closed and will be turned into a 100 bedroom hotel. Although the move was approved last year (and already has seen some local businesses close) it's still a shock to see yet another vinyl store shut down on the street immortalised by the artwork for Oasis What's The Story Morning Glory.
Manager Chloe Dunlop told Westend Extra: “There is a lot of interest from big commercial industries in Berwick Street so it is getting increasingly harder for independent businesses to stay. Everything is shutting down in Denmark Street as well. “Personally I think that all the independent businesses in the area should keep fighting. It depends on how the business can cope with all that pressure. I think we are doing all that we can to stay there. I think a lot of our customers are disappointed we are moving out of the area.”
She added: “ It is sad, we’ve been here for nearly 20 years and we tried really hard to find a shop in Soho. We are still looking we don’t want to move out of the area.”
It follows in the footsteps of Black Market Records, another store that had to close in February. The shop posted a statement online shortly after to confirm the news, stating: "Unfortunately due to contractual dispute over the building that has been home of BM Soho for the past 25 years we have been forced to temporarily close. Our landlord has been certain that our address will join the massive gentrification of Soho and regrettably we could no longer afford to fight the legal battle to stop that happening anymore."
It follows a number of venue closes in Soho and the surrounding area, notably Madame JoJos, 12 Bar and Buffalo Bar.
