Newcastle music shop JG Windows shuts permanently after failing to find buyer

One of the North East’s best known and longest established retail businesses - Newcastle music shop JG Windows - has closed.

The company, which had a shop in the city’s Central Arcade, dates back to 1908 and sold musical instruments, sheet music and vinyl records. After efforts to sell the business over the last year failed, the company has gone into liquidation with 17 employees made redundant.

The store closed today with signs in its windows saying: “It is with great sadness that we announce that JG Windows has closed permanently. After having served our loyal customers across the North East and beyond with all things musical since 1908, and being a cornerstone of the region’s musical heritage, our small business can no longer compete with large online retailers, and with heavy hearts we have had to take the difficult decision to close.

“We would like to thank everyone for their support, custom and friendship.”

Windows had been put up for sale last year but a buyer could not be found. The company’s stores in the Metrocentre and Darlington closed in 2022 and 2018 respectively. Liquidators Begbies Traynor said the firm been unable to compete in a market that had become dominated by large online retailers.

Joint administrator Andrew Little said: “While other shops have come and gone, JG Windows has always remained and flourished, becoming one of the UK’s oldest and most respected music stores with an unrivalled reputation for their fantastic range of instruments and musical expertise. Its closure is incredibly sad and bears no reflection on the firm’s directors who have ceaselessly gone above and beyond to try and drive the business forward. Competing in the current market had become impossible for them and they had no viable choice but to cease trading.”

The store’s general manager, Alex Cole, said: “JG Windows has been a cornerstone of the region’s musical and retail heritage for over 115 years and generations of musicians and music lovers, including my family and myself, have bought their first instrument, listened to their first LP, or learnt their first song within the iconic Central Arcade store.

“The retail environment, and particularly the music sector, has changed so much over recent years. Despite our best efforts to transform and adapt through streamlined operations, the introduction of the Windows Music Academy, and the launch of a new online offering, we have been unable to compete against falling margins, rising costs and the general shift within the UK to online shopping, streaming and downloads.”

He added: “I would like to thank the J G Windows team for their incredible service. I can confidently say there was not a better skilled and more knowledgeable, experienced, or passionate team of musical experts in any music store across the UK.

“I would also like to thank the thousands of customers who have given us their support over the years and to whom the store means so much. It has genuinely been an honour and a privilege to be part of the J G Windows journey, the city will be a quieter place without it.”

The store’s name comes from original founder James Gale Windows, who moved to Elswick from Oxfordshire in the late 1880s. In 1908, he opened his own shop in the Central Arcade selling music and musical instruments.

When JG Windows died in 1933, his two sons Hedley and Maurice took over the business, and Hedley’s son James Bowen Windows joined the company in 1961, running it with his father who died in 1996, at the age of 90. In 2006, the company was bought from the Windows family by new owners and the shop was extended in 2015.