David Segrue to open indie bookshop in Radlett

Book sales rep David Segrue is set to open an independent bookshop with his wife Amanda in May.

The 1,500 sq ft shop will open in Radlett, Hertfordshire and will be called Segrue Books of Radlett.

Segrue has been a book sales agent for 24 years and employs a team of people who represent fiction and non-fiction titles from independent publishers to retailers. Amanda is the company’s accountant.

Segrue told The Bookseller he had wanted to open a bookshop “for many years” and the “perfect” vacancy came onto the market in the affluent market town of Radlett in October.

The couple live “10 minutes down the road” from Radlett in Elstree and so know the local market well, Amanda said.

"Books really have come back into vogue after the perfect storm of the world wide recession and the meteoric rise of e-books," David Segrue said. "We have seen in our agency business very strong sales across museums, galleries, non-traditional retailers and traditional bookshops. Waterstones has turned back into a real bookseller again, enticing back its customers. Seeing how successfully it can sell books without having to slash prices has shown us that there is a need for bookshops on the high street."

Amanda who has an “eye for detail when it comes to interior design” has worked with Luke Jones of Mill and Jones Architecture and Design on the bookshop’s interior, which includes a miniature door entrance for kids into the children’s area, which will make up 30% of hte shop.

Her aim is to create a bookshop that will be warm and inviting to the local community, appealing to both book enthusiasts and customers that otherwise may never think of entering a bookshop, she said.  

The bookshop will also have a café serving Monmouth coffee along with tea and locally-sourced homemade cakes.

Segrue added: “My independent publishers are performing really well and most are clearly seeing strong year on year growth. There really is a very positive feel out there at the moment. I never did believe that e-books were the iPod moment for printed books, you really can't beat the feel of a good book."

The bookshop will be hiring a bookshop manager, a full time bookseller and some part time booksellers to run the shop in due course.