Independents optimistic despite Brexit and challenging high street environment

Brexit, environmental issues and Christmas trading are looming large in independent booksellers’ minds ahead of the annual Booksellers Association conference, which kicks off in Birmingham on Sunday (8th September).

Hundreds of booksellers will head to Conference Aston for the two-day event, with pre-orders, green bookselling, diversity and selling online all on the agenda. But as political uncertainty grips the UK, the shadow of Brexit is unavoidable, said BA president Nic Bottomley. "All you can do is try and run your business as effectively as possible and wait it out and hope that a no-deal Brexit does not occur," said Bottomley. "I do have a lot of concerns in the event of a no-deal Brexit—short-term consumer confidence will see high street shopping far from a central priority. But I do think that on previous evidence, like the 2008 [financial] crash and around other times of great political turmoil, usually that period is relatively short and books are relatively immune."

Despite the uncertainty and concerns that shoppers will tighten their belts, many booksellers, including Blackwell’s, have reported good summer trading, thanks in part to the weak pound and an increase in domestic tourism. "It’s so uncertain at the moment with what will happen," said Claire Harris, manager of Lutyens & Rubinstein Bookshop in London’s Notting Hill. "But we’ve had a good summer and we are in an area with high tourist numbers. The weak pound has encouraged people to spend, so we have reaped rewards from that."

Henry Layte, owner of Norwich indie The Book Hive, added: "We’ve just had probably the best summer trading in 10 years. There’s been a lot of tourists and the inland tourism market is booming." But Layte is still looking to Brexit with some trepidation. "My biggest concern is what’s going to go on in the next few months. In the face of all the madness, it remains our job that we have these places that people can go to as a sanctuary to read, to think, to exchange ideas. These are interesting social and political times, and for the book trade it’s an extraordinary time to be writing about and selling.

Blackwell's sales and marketing director Phil Henderson said: "Despite the uncertain economic and political climate, which everyone hopes will play out as soon as possible, we are feeling positive as we head into our biggest trading periods of Back to University and Christmas. We see some great opportunities ahead and we’re ready to make the most of them, with a strong slate of publishing on the trade side and great relationships driving our Academic business.  Our campus stores are ready to trade the peak season as students return to university, and as always they are playing a positive role alongside the institutions and customers they serve. In our flagship High Street stores we have seen a strong summer, the exchange rate has driven increased tourism in some of our key locations (Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and London) and we’re again looking forward to serving customers in these communities through the BTU and Christmas periods."

L-R Lutyens & Rubinstein Bookshop and The Book Hive

Christmas trading

With Britain due to leave the EU on 31st October, Brexit will strike at the trade’s busiest time, with Super Thursday on 3rd October marking the start of the make-or-break autumn season. Bottomley, who runs Mr B’s Emporium in Bath, added it "would be naïve of us all to think that Brexit couldn’t throw a bad Christmas, if it goes the wrong way", but praised this year’s varied offering, which sees titles from the likes of Philip Pullman, Elton John and John le Carré. "There’s some exciting stuff coming, and there is a move away from people relying on a handful of titles," he said. "We would like another Michelle Obama [type of book] to come out of the woodwork and be a big hitter for the trade but if there isn’t one standout that’s fine. For the indies it’s about range."

Others say they are lacking a standout title and have concerns over stock levels. Jo Coldwell, manager at Red Lion Books in Colchester, said: "Nothing is really exciting me, we don’t have one standout title. For Christmas trading our big challenge is making sure there’s enough stock in of big titles. Last year we had Nigel Slater and Monty Don—everyone came in and everyone wanted them but they were on a reprint."

Rent, business rates and the state of the high street continue to occupy the BA, and as physical retail stalwarts such as Marks & Spencer struggle, Bottomley suggested that booksellers that have weathered the Amazon storm could come to the fore. He said: "After 20 years of competing with online and an often unbalanced playing field, indies are more adept at dealing with those changes, but our keystone tenants are struggling as they face up to the reality of the Amazon squeeze as well as other issues. First it was books, now it’s fashion and department stores. High street booksellers who have figured out a way to make it work could end up the last shiny teeth on a gap-filled high street. We need to see the high street as a whole tick."

With the health of the British high street in mind, BA director of strategy Alan Staton said the conference is set to be busy with a real appetite for sessions on green bookselling and town centre management. He said: "The number of bookshops is going up. Bookshops seem to be very active and we’ve put a focus on town centre management. Booksellers are often the people who take leadership in a community and we want to get booksellers asking about what they can do."

Conference sessions are planned on running events, community bookselling, working with schools and inclusivity. How UK booksellers can grab a slice of the lucrative pre-order market, like their US counterparts, is also on indies’ minds, with a session on the practical steps UK booksellers can take to create more pre-orders—and the conference set to hear from American Booksellers Association c.e.o. Oren Teicher.

Henderson said pre-orders remain a focus for the chain. He said: "We’re driving this harder than ever both online and in our stores. Online in general continues to go from strength to strength and is an engine of growth for us."

Veteran bookseller Ron Johns said pre-orders could provide an opportunity for indies. His Cornish bookshop chain recently updated its website to include options to pre-pay via PayPal, and is looking at forward-selling books relevant to the local market. He said: "With pre-orders, we’re only just getting our heads around it. Amazon is the dragon in the room whatever you do, but we have to play to our strengths of locality and diversity."

Green issues
Green bookselling is also coming to the fore as the BA pushes its green manifesto. It is calling on the trade to reduce its environmental impact and take the lead in sustainability and eco-friendly initiatives. Blackwell’s is installing low-energy lighting and using bio-degradable carrier bags while others, including Drake the Bookshop in Stockton-on-Tees, are looking into carbon neutral packaging. Norwich’s Book Hive will give away 100 copies of Greta Thunberg’s No One is Too Small to Make a Difference, and plans to take part in the global climate strike on 20th September.

"Green bookselling is a real opportunity," said Bottomley. "Already we are seeing changes with distribution centres reducing their plastic, looking at the logistics of returns, the removal of unsolicited PoS. Everyone at every level is really engaged with it. In the next few months the conversation will be around the fundamentals of the supply chain and what we can do to be more sustainable."

But as the trade prepares for its busiest period and competition in the indie scene heats up, Emma Corfield-Walters, owner of Book-ish in Crickhowell, says she is concerned with booksellers’ mental health, and she is planning a retreat for booksellers. "I feel one of the big issues is the state of booksellers’ mental health. There are lots of new shops opening, lots of refurbishments and awards and events, but it’s really hard for people running a business on their own," she said.

Looking ahead

Ready for a busy conference and an uncertain trading period ahead, the BA says it will continue to rally for business rates reform and government support to shore up the British high street. "If a compromise is figured out rather than a no-deal Brexit, then I’m optimistic for the short term," said BA president Bottomley. "In the long term for bookselling, we need to keep pushing government to support the high street."

Overall, it seems indies remain positive over the state of British bookselling, its future, and the vital role of high street bookshops—which will be celebrated with Bookshop Day on Saturday 5th October—as the number of bookshops continues to rise. In January, the BA reported a second year of growth in its independent bookshop membership, with 15 new shops taking it to 883 members last year. This summer a flurry of new indies have opened their doors, too.

The UK’s bookselling scene is in rude health, according to Johns: "Bookselling is very vibrant at the moment, we should be celebrating our pluses. Nine years ago there was the rise of e-books and Amazon and the position we’re in at the moment is amazing." Bottomley added: "British bookselling is in incredible shape right now. There are so many shops, with so many ideas, and people thinking about the issues really deeply."

A Winn win situation for Raynor and Greta
There are some stark differences in terms of what sells in indies and the rest of the market. Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path is the bestselling title through Nielsen BookScan among independent shops in 2019, but in the overall TCM it is 29th, shifting almost 127,000 units (BookScan cannot reveal the market share of retail channels, so the indie chart has no volume or value figures). And there is no place in the indie top 20 for Pinch of Nom, the all-channel bestselling book of the year by a whopping 500,000 units.

Winn’s triumph may surprise observers of The Bookseller’s weekly Independent Retailer list, though. It has notched up just one indie top spot, back in February. Climate activist Greta Thunberg’s till-point hit No One is Too Small to Make a Difference, meanwhile, has grabbed the number one for nine of the past 11 weeks. But Winn’s memoir has had remarkable staying power, having been a habitué of the indie top 20 for every week since its 31st January paperback release.

Literary titles can be far stronger in indies than the rest of the market—such as Pat Barker’s Costa and Women’s Prize shortlistee, fourth here and 105th in the overall TCM.