Waterstones to open Next concession store in new partnership

Waterstones is opening a concession store in a Leicester branch of Next, the first of what could be an ongoing partnership for the retailer.

A “full” shop offering 20,000 books will open in Next's new flagship store at Leicester's Fosse Park, an out-of-town retail park on the city's southern edge, later this spring. The “light and airy space” will be staffed by Waterstones booksellers, led by an experienced team alongside new staff who will be recruited.

Kate Skipper, Waterstones chief operating officer, said: “We are very excited to be embarking on a new partnership set within Next’s Fosse Park store. We have been keen to bring a bookshop back to Fosse Park for a number of years, something that has been missing since Borders sadly closed their doors. We are delighted to have found a way to make this happen and are thrilled to be working on this new venture with Next. Next are leading the way as they rethink retail space and we look forward to opening our new shop with them immensely.”

Announcing the new outlet in an email to staff, Skipper said, if it proved to be successful, she hoped there would be “significant further opportunities to work with Next to bring our bookshops to new locations”.

Skipper's email also highlighted the availability of hardship grants from the Book Trade Charity and said the firm's HR team was working on ways to set up a hardship loan scheme.

Some Waterstones booksellers have warned they are facing severe financial difficulties and a petition calling for furloughed staff's wages to be topped up to the minimum wage has been signed by more than 3,600 people so far.

News of the new outlet also follows a campaign backed by Waterstones calling for urgent reform of the business rates system. M.d. James Daunt has warned up to 80 of his 290 branches could close when leases expire unless business rates come down or are scrapped altogether.

Skipper's email told staff: “We will do everything we can to keep our shops, something that thankfully we have been notably successful in achieving over the past few years when so many other major retailers have closed branches. This requires us, more than ever in these especially difficult times, to work closely with our landlords. The lifting of the burden of rates would greatly ease this pressure. Saying all this, we are generally making good progress with landlords, with only a very few places where negotiations find us struggling to find a sensible outcome.”

Waterstones' announcement comes during a crucial period for retailers, with Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales due to announce lockdown updates this week and England to follow suit on 22nd February.