Stanfords confirms Long Acre departure

Travel and maps bookseller Stanfords has confirmed that its flagship London store is departing the Long Acre site in Covent Garden that it has occupied since 1901 and relocating to a new premises in nearby Mercer Walk.

The possibility of a move was raised earlier this year, in the context of a lease review deadline from landlord Picton Capital this autumn. The firm's former m.d. Tony Maher, who left in March, said the hike in the price of the lease meant the shop’s running costs, including business rates and bills, would have increased by 60% in five years. 

The relocation will see the shop and office space of Stanfords separated out. The shop will be located at number 7 Mercer Walk. Meanwhile the office space for Stanfords is nearby at 20-22 Shelton Street, connected to the Mercer Street shop via an underground tunnel that was part of the site's redevelopment a year ago.

The shop itself will be arranged over two floors - a ground floor and a basement level - with a total size on both floors of 4,165 square foot or 387 square metres. It will have a coffee shop, and for the first time an outdoor seating area.

The ground floor is to have a "busy, enlivening atmosphere with the focus on gifting, stationery and cards as well as a destination area for children, the explorers of the future", Stanfords said, with a modern, urban aesthetic complemented with travel-inspired installations. The basement floor will house the travel books as well as maritime and print on demand services. Flexibility has been incorporated into the design to allow Stanfords to continue its extensive events programme of author talks and book launches, the retailer said.  Stanfords' collection of furniture and globes are also promised to create a focal point in a double height feature "illuminated" wall.

Stanfords chairman and chief executive Vivian Godfrey (pictured) told The Bookseller Stanfords would not be reducing its stock with the relocation, as the linear footage in the two premises were almost identical. "Because at Mercer Street we are arranged over two floors [instead of four, as at Long Acre], we gain space efficiencies, such as fewer tills," she said. "Also there are very high ceilings, so in the basement the bookshelves go much higher."

All bookselling staff will also be transferring to the new location, without lay-offs, she confirmed.

Godfrey said the change was about "right-sizing".

"Our instore business remains very important but we have had rapid growth of our online business and need a better distribution of space between office and store," she said. "Nielsen, the global measurement and data analytics company, carried out market research for us showing that Stanfords is primarily a destination shop. Our customer base is very loyal and many people tell us they make a pilgrimage to Stanfords when in London, so we hope they will be delighted with our new premises.”

Godfrey said it was an "exciting" move but agreed that the relocation was a big decision for the business. "The lease review was a very important factor - at the end of our 10-year lease we did try to renew, but with our landlord we jointly agreed that the plans they had for the building did not tie in with ours. The rates also went up significantly and the combination of rent and rates was a very important one," she said.

While Stanfords will officially open its doors on Mercer Walk in January, from mid-November there will be a Christmas gift boutique open to the public on the ground floor of the new site.