Bonnier’s Pocket Shop bookshop to enter UK market imminently

Northern European bookshop chain Pocket Shop hopes to open its first UK store before the summer, The Bookseller can reveal.

Anna Borné Minberger, c.e.o. of the chain, which is owned by Swedish media giant Bonnier, said the company was in negotiations to secure premises in three locations in the UK, with one contract on the verge of being signed. While she declined to reveal the exact location of the company’s British début, she said “at least one” store should be open “before summer”.

“Things are moving forward,” Minberger said. “We have visited quite a number of locations in the past couple of months and get presented new locations almost every week... At this point we have one handshake and two very interesting locations that we are negotiating. At least one of these should open before summer.”

In terms of the company’s aims for a UK footprint, Minberger added: “It is of course more important for us to find the right location, rather than [committing ourselves to] opening a certain number of shops per year.”

The Bookseller first reported that Pocket Shop was eyeing a UK launch last November. At the time, Minberger said: “We are looking at several markets at this time, but haven’t yet made up our minds about where and when. The UK market is extremely competitive.”

Paperback chain Pocket Shop was founded in 1989 by Mathias Engdahl. Bonnier bought it in 2012, with Minberger succeeding Engdahl as c.e.o. in 2013. There are around 25 Pocket Shop outlets across Sweden, Germany and Finland, all based in travel hubs such as airports and major train stations.

The UK launch is in line with the recent expansion of Bonnier’s UK-based activities; its English- language publishing division, Bonnier Publishing, has grown rapidly and claims to be the fourth- largest publisher in the UK.