Windows music opens MetroCentre store

May 20 2009 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

AN iconic Tyneside music retailer has added another string to its bow with the opening of its second store.

JG Windows, whose famous shop in the Central Arcade is one of the oldest music shops in the UK, has branched out with a new store in the Gateshead MetroCentre.

Managing director Rupert Bradbury said: “Most people from all generations have bought something from JG Windows at some point in their life.

“The company’s passion is supplying music in all its forms to a wide audience from professional classical musicians and budding rock stars of all ages, not to mention those who actually made it big – Sting, Brian Ferry, Mark Knopfler, Lindisfarne and Brian Johnson have all been customers – through to those who simply prefer to listen.”

JG Windows was named after its founder, James Gale Windows, who came to Newcastle from Oxford in the 1880s as a piano dealer’s assistant, opening the Central Arcade store in 1908. His two sons Maurice and Hedley both worked in the business as did his grandson, James Bowen Windows.

The company has bought Dolphin Music’s 3,500 sq ft store in the Metro Centre’s Yellow Quadrant.