The resurrection of the book shop?

[Nick Armstrong]

I found this article very interesting:

https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/what-can-we-learn-from-barnes-and

[teamsaint]

I found this article very interesting:

https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/what-can-we-learn-from-barnes-and

Thanks for posting Nick.Can’t resist responding !!

Daunt is a somewhat divisive character, who certainly knows his own mind, and isn’t t afraid to voice controversial opinions. He was a vocal opponent of high street lockdowns, for example.

The article is quite right about promotional spend, which is the curse of many hight street establishments ( ask yourself why your average big Tesco stocks so many brands of Olive oil). Promotional marketing spend utterly distorts markets in all kinds of damaging ways. The so called top 50 in WHS is the top 50 by publisher marketing spend , not sales. And massive marketing spend and huge returns of books that don’t sell are in nobody’s interest.

Re Waterstones / B and N/ Foyles/ Blackwell, it has to be said that the big 5 or six publishers still get better representation than perhaps they ought to. But also true to say that equal-footing access for all publishers does allow for a reasonable level of stock on their shelves for smaller publishers. And it is also the case that success for his chains is good for most publishers , allowing Waterstones etc to invest in the more niche titles that make their shops interesting and attractive.

Edit: Daunt does rather overplay the power that individual stores have in terms of range. Most buying and ranging is done centrally .But if they want a book, they can stock it. And they do.

[David-G]

Very interesting article, thank you for posting it.

For anyone within striking distance of Wimbledon, may I recommend Wimbledon Books. An independent bookshop run on similar principles. A small shop with an excellent selection of recently published fiction and non-fiction on display. Very efficient ordering for books not in stock. I always find it a pleasure to browse there. I am very lucky in having this shop within one minute's walk of my office.

[Old Grumpy]

Very interesting article, thank you for posting it.

For anyone within striking distance of Wimbledon, may I recommend Wimbledon Books. An independent bookshop run on similar principles. A small shop with an excellent selection of recently published fiction and non-fiction on display. Very efficient ordering for books not in stock. I always find it a pleasure to browse there. I am very lucky in having this shop within one minute's walk of my office.

We have been lucky to live near excellent independent booksellers, both in Northumberland and in North Yorkshire. They may not have the stock levels of the larger bookstores, but make up for it with customer service. Generally a title ordered on the morning of one day will be in the shop for collection the following afternoon. Obviously they can't offer the sort of discount that the major online retailers offer, but the extra is worth paying for the service.

[gradus]

As ever, I left book buying for presents until Christmas Eve, too late for our independent bookshop which closed, thus losing business, whilst Waterstones remained open.

[JasonPalmer]

My research is that second hand bookshops in seaside towns are a treasure trove, no doubt because a lot of bookish people retire to the seaside and when they die their books are cleared out to the second hand bookshops.

[oddoneout]

As ever, I left book buying for presents until Christmas Eve, too late for our independent bookshop which closed, thus losing business, whilst Waterstones remained open.

Waterstones would have a bigger pool of staff to provide cover, among other things.
Several of the smaller shops in town have chosen to have a longer shutdown, and certainly judging by how quiet it was on Christmas Eve there would have been little for them to gain by being open then - just more energy costs!

[teamsaint]

Special orders in indie bookshops are the lifeblood of those businesses.
They can usually order any book in stock at Gardners before 5.00 pm, and have it the next day. They get a reasonable discount ( usually) and no stockholding, so it is an easy win. You can also help your local indie by ordering online from Hive Books ( part of Gardners) and nominating your favourite indie to receive part of the profit, whilst having the book delivered to either you or the shop, I think.

Gardners is a very impressive business, and they do a fantastic job of fulfilling demand across the entire industry.

[oddoneout]

My research is that second hand bookshops in seaside towns are a treasure trove, no doubt because a lot of bookish people retire to the seaside and when they die their books are cleared out to the second hand bookshops.

Second hand shops at visitor attractions can do well also. One of the local National Trust places is well known for its very large bookshop which often has antiquarian books, as well as several specialist sections.
Where I work there is a a bookshop run by volunteers, which despite having to close for the winter, and much of the stock being fiction at 50p makes several thousand pounds a year. For regular visitors/pass holders it's part of their visit - with children's books always going well - and for the out of area visitors they stock up with reading matter either for their stay or to take home. Donations are sometimes of the house clearance type as you say, but the shop has been there for so many years it's become local habit to bring surplus books. In recent years several of the local charity shops either stopped or reduced their book selling so we benefited then, but even now that some have started selling again we're not short of donations. Staff on site bring in books as well, and bring back the books they've bought and read - it's a bit like having a subscription library on site!

[JasonPalmer]

Wife bought three books at national trust propertys second hand bookshop yesterday.

Ightham Mote, down the road from me.

[smittims]

Yes, I've found NT bookshops wonderful.

One thing second-hand books bring with them is a little of their former owner's life. 'The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church' presented to a young priest on his ordination by a congregation in 1959 at 70shillings (quite an expensive book then) , still in its pale blue paper dust cover, faded on the spine and almost worn away where it was repeatedly grasped to pull it off a shelf to consult during many years of his ministry, then , presumably, after his death, left to the NT .

[oddoneout]

Yes, I've found NT bookshops wonderful.

One thing second-hand books bring with them is a little of their former owner's life. 'The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church' presented to a young priest on his ordination by a congregation in 1959 at 70shillings (quite an expensive book then) , still in its pale blue paper dust cover, faded on the spine and almost worn away where it was repeatedly grasped to pull it off a shelf to consult during many years of his ministry, then , presumably, after his death, left to the NT .

Yes, the things that get left can be amusing/interesting. I have several very old gardening books and the annotations, and pieces of paper (in themselves of interest sometimes - old cards, bits of notepaper etc) with plant varieties, "note to self reminders", cuttings from gardening columns etc are a window into different lives and times.

[JasonPalmer]

Indeed, second hand bookshops are lovely to browse and find bargains. You can see when someone has had a clear out when their are several books around the same subject. I even found some 80s eagle comics in a second hand bookshop at the seaside this year. Ahhh the memories, comics and a crunchie.

[pastoralguy]

I came across a biography of Sir John Barbirolli in a bookshop in Wigtown which had been signed by both Sir John and Laurence Turner, leader of The Hálle.