‘Legendary’ music shop loved by customers for 50 years is forced to suddenly close down due to ‘annoying’ issue
AN iconic music shop that has been in business for almost 50 years is being forced to close.
The family-owned store, which started as an organ shop, has been plagued by long-term parking issues.
Intasound first launched on Narborough Road, Leicester, in 1976 and is the town’s last remaining independent music store.
Lloyd Wright and his brother Alex took over the business after their dad, Malcolm, retired.
But the brothers say the lack of parking has been a huge issue and has impacted sales.
Lloyd told Leicestershire Live said: “Regular feedback is about parking not being available, if you’re buying a large piece and having to park three roads down, it’s just not practical.”
Intasound has seen plenty of celebrity customers over the years, including Hard Life – who were previously known as Easy Life.
The shop sells a range of musical instruments including keyboards, guitars, wind instruments and drums.
In a bid to keep up with the changing times, they expanded their services and offer light and sound installation across the country.
Lloyd said that the store has lost some of its “community feeling”, which is why they have decided to shut up shop.
Unlike many struggling high street and independent shops, Intasound is not closing for good.
The brothers are moving to a new venue just 12 minutes down the road by car.
Their new home will be 14 Saffron Way, which will have its own designated parking area.
“It’s very accessible, given us a lot more space and the car park will hopefully be a game changer for us.
“It’s not just a place to buy musical instruments from but also a place for musicians to socialize and with the new premises we will bring this back.”
They are aiming to have their new location up and running before the May bank holiday.
To celebrate their new chapter, the Narborough Road store will be offering a huge sale.
Plenty of other retailers are closing stores across the high street as households lean more towards online shopping and amid high business rates.
Soaring inflation in recent years has also dented shoppers’ pockets.
The Centre for Retail Research’s latest analysis suggests 13,479 stores, the equivalent of 37 each day, shut for good in 2024.
Of those, 11,341 were independent shops while 2,138 were shut by larger retailers.
The data also showed over half the stores that closed last year were shut due to the store or retailer going through insolvency proceedings.
This is when formal measures are taken to deal with tackling a business‘s debt.
New Look is ramping up a store closure programme ahead of April’s National Insurance hike.
Approximately a quarter of the retailer’s 364 stores are at risk when their leases expire.
This equates to about 91 stores, with a significant impact on its 8,000-strong workforce.
The company has restructured its store estate twice in the past six years, reducing its portfolio from around 600 UK stores in 2018.
It also closed all of its 26 stores across Ireland, marking the end of a two decade tenure in the country.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”