Jobs axed as Stuart glass store closes
Tuesday 24th March 2009, 11:30AM GMT.
A glass shop which has been trading for more than 60 years at a world-renowned museum is to close this week.
Nine members of staff at Stuart Crystal Gift Shop have been told their jobs will go tomorrow or on Thursday.
The store at the Red House Glass Cone, in High Street, Wordsley, near Stourbridge, is run by the troubled Waterford Wedgwood group,now in administration.
A US equity company has since bought the business, but it has not been enough to save the Stuart Crystal shop, which sells crystal made at Wedgwood factories.
Manager Jann Richards said: “This came out of the blue. I was called to a meeting at Wedgwood in Stoke and I was told the shop would be closing on Wednesday or Thursday.”
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This is a real shame, yet another part of the glass heritage of the region gone for good. Surely, there are options for this to stay in some part?
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Why shouldn’t it close?
They have shut everything else down that reflects our history, money has been given by the lottery fund for every useless cause going, I have yet to see any evidence that any money has been given to one Good Cause, that the people in the UK benefit from.
They have even given money to a group that supports terrorism against the west, and gay rights groups.
I can see a time coming when we are going to have to travel to 3rd world countries to learn their skills, if we want to manufacture products in the future.
Jim of Bearwood.
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The only new news in Dudley now will be when something doesn’t close or when something works normally.
I feel sorry for Stuart’s and the staff concerned.It is also tragic for the hstory of Dudley read Stourbridge.And future generations’ study thereof.
As I said the other day : where will it all end?
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We are gutted to be losing our wonderful colleagues at Stourbridge. The soul has gone from what has been over the years a true icon which can never be replaced – more should be done to save our heritage and historical industry.
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Stuart and Sons is historically one of the biggest and most respected crystal companies in the country and the staff who are losing their jobs aren’t shop workers – they’re essentially the last remaining face of what is now Waterford Crystal. Part of the value of visiting the Red House cone is to have part of the original company who manufactured there on the site still – that part of the company is the factory shop.
Let’s not forget that that group of companies includes Waterford Crystal, Wedgewood, Royal Doulton and Stuart. Yes the company itself is still in existance to an extent, but losing the shop means we are losing our last connection to that company on that site. Someone needs to buy or lease that shop from whoever the site is “sold” to, retain the staff and retain the heritage, so at least we don’t lose it.
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Well we have the public in west brom
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