Waterstones unveils plans for bookshop refurbishments and relocations

Waterstones has unveiled plans to relocate two of its bookshops to new premises and will complete major refurbishments of four branches this autumn. 

In October, Waterstones will relocate its Kensington bookshop to new premises at 130 Kensington High Street.  Opening just across the road from the current Waterstones bookshop, the new shop will trade across two floors.

The Guildford branch will move to a new property on the town’s High Street in November with plans for a large Children’s section and improved range across the shop.

Under plans to invest in its bookshops, Waterstones is undertaking a major refurbishment of its Kalverstraat bookshop in Amsterdam. The shop is being redecorated throughout and work is underway on a new shop front, lighting scheme and children’s department with picture book train.

In Nottingham, 12 additional bookselling and barista roles have been created following the bookshop’s refurbishment, with improvements including a new café and redesigned children’s department inspired by local landmark Sherwood Forest.

The refurbishment of Waterstones King’s Road brings more room for children’s books and family friendly activities in the newly extended children’s department. The Chelsea shop will stock a wider range of stationery and gifts and will benefit from new flooring and lighting throughout. Elsewhere, Waterstones in Bracknell is closing temporarily whilst the bookshop is given a brand new look and will re-open in November.

Luke Taylor, Waterstones head of retail and bookselling said: “We are delighted to be opening  new shops this autumn as we continue to seek out areas of the country that are bereft of a good bookshop. The environment remains challenging for many retailers, but we are hopeful we can make our new shops a success and quickly establish them as cultural and social hubs within their local communities. We want all our bookshops, old and new, to be welcoming places that are a pleasure to spend time in and so we are taking the opportunity to spruce up a number of our larger shops ahead of Christmas - notably Kings Road, Amsterdam and Nottingham, with the latter getting its very own Major Oak.”

The announcement of the refurbishment programme follows the news that Waterstones will open two new bookshops in Rustington and Hove in the next few weeks. Once Hove and Rustington open, Waterstones, including Foyles, Hatchards, Hodges Figgis and branches in Ireland, Brussels and Amsterdam, will have 294 bookshops.