New indie bookshop to open in Bourne

A new independent bookshop will open its doors to customers in Bourne, Lincolnshire this weekend. 

Stocking more than 1,000 titles, Bourne Bookshop, will open with a preview on Saturday 31st August, ahead of its grand opening on Saturday 7th September. 

Owner Karen Smith said the store will be the market town’s first bookshop in five years.  She said: “I’ve always loved books and really missed having a bookshop in town. The last one closed about five years ago and we’ve been without one since then, with just whatever the supermarkets were stocking.”

The 550sq ft shop in the Burghley Centre took delivery of its first books yesterday (Tuesday 27th August) and Smith says the shop, which does not plan to specialise, will definitely stock titles related to motor racing and the Second World War in a nod to the town’s heritage. 

“There is quite a lot of interest in this area in mortar racing as BRM used to be based here in the sixties and being in Lincolnshire we are in Bomber county, so there will always be an interest in the Second World War,” she said. “We took our first delivery from Gardners today but I’m already thinking of our next order.” 

Smith plans to run the shop with the help of her husband Peter, who has a full-time job, and a number of part-time staff. Bourne marks her first foray into bookselling following a varied career that has seen her work in sectors including travel and agriculture. 

“I started off at an independent travel agent in the nineties so I’ve got lots of experience working for an indie against multiples and it will be interesting to come at this from a different side. From there, I went to Blockbuster and then I moved into agriculture and did everything from the lab to logistics, but I missed talking to people and having that face to face contact. We’ve been decorating the shop this week and have left the door open and so many people have popped their head round saying they’re really pleased and that the town needs a bookshop.” 

The shop’s website is currently under construction with the Facebook and Twitter accounts already live. Plans are underway for the grand opening that will see a special guest open the shop, as well as food and drink for customers and special offers. 

The bookshop is the latest in a flurry of indies to open this summer. Wood Green's co-operative bookshop, All Good Bookshop, secured new premises last week, earlier this month children's bookshop Bookbugs and Dragon Tales opened in Norwich and The Portobello Bookshop opened its doors in Edinburgh in July.  In January, the Booksellers Association reported a second year of growth in its independent bookshop membership, with 15 new shops joining the trade body in 2018, taking the BA up to 883 independents last year.