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Booksellers: Shop floor honour roll
As part of our Focus on bricks-and-mortar book retail, The Bookseller spoke to 10 UK booksellers who are making a mark within their communities—and beyond.
Ahead of the Booksellers Association Conference (22nd–23rd September), the second Shop Floor Honour Roll sees the BA and The Bookseller highlight 10 more booksellers from across the UK and Ireland who are making a difference in their communities, despite the challenges facing retailers. Ranging from seasoned sellers to relative newcomers, everyone on this list is finding ways to reach readers and serve their local areas. The cohort has had much to celebrate over the past 12 months, including award wins and successful events programmes, but many have also spoken of the difficulties of trading in the current economic climate.
Many approached raised the cost-of-living crisis and tight margins as the biggest issue facing booksellers currently. As Real Magic Books’ Carl Gosling and Sophie Green put it: “High streets everywhere are suffering a bit. For us, it’s a constant challenge to keep people walking through an actual shop door rather than shopping online.” Others also raised the continuing increase in recommended retail prices of books as a concern, as well as the pricing disparities that indies face. “We simply can’t match the prices, particularly with hardbacks, seen in supermarkets and chain bookshops,” says Remony Hart of Kemptown Bookshop. “If publishers want to keep indie bookshops healthy, they need to recognise and react to the imbalance in today’s market.”
The Honour Roll shows that booksellers are doing more than ever to shift books through the tills. As The Heath Bookshop’s Catherine Gale and Claire Dawes point out, bookshop owners “have to wear a lot of hats”. They add: “We have to work really hard to make enough money to cover a basic salary for ourselves. We have to be dynamic in being events managers, booksellers, business owners and so on.”
Despite the difficulties, it is clear that indie bookshops still occupy a special place in their neighbourhoods. “Working as a bookseller has highlighted just how many book lovers still value the importance of shopping indie,” shares Megan Raynor at Suddenly Sheaf Books. “The personalised recommendations, indie special editions, welcoming atmosphere and sense of community that come with shopping at an independent bookshop cannot be competed with. We provide a human connection that can’t be found online.” Hear, hear!
Caper, Oxford
After a decade in trade publishing, Xander Cansell decided to combine a “passion for literature” with a “rooted connection” to the place he lives, launching Caper as an indie family bookshop, with books and events for both kids and grown-ups. He says: “Oxford has a proud tradition of bookshops, writers and writing, but there hasn’t been a children’s-focused bookshop here for many years, and in the east of the city we have not had a bookshop for over a decade. Hopefully we’ve become a valuable addition to the local area.” Looking ahead, a key part of his strategy for next year is finding ways of reaching people who don’t regularly visit bookshops.
Highlight of 2024
“Partnering with David Fickling Books for Independent Bookshop Week was brilliant: so many great events, authors, workshops. Having the world-famous climate activist Nemonte Nenquimo from Ecuador give an inspiring talk in a packed bookshop was a real thrill.”
Drop City Books, Stoke-on-Trent
Opened less than a year ago by psychotherapist Ruth Wallbank in her “beloved” home town of Stoke-on-Trent, Drop City Books aims to be “a good-vibes, psychologically informed city-centre bookshop”. She expands on her ethos: “I believe that sitting one-to-one with a client on the couch is only one way to talk about our feelings—books are another. Books are some of my best friends, they’ve saved my life more than once.” With help from family and friends, Wallbank runs the store solo—the buying, the stocking, the toilet cleaning, the book club hosting, the event planning, the social media, the designing, planning. “For better or worse, all jobs are mine.”
Highlight of 2024
“This year has been our first full year of trading, so watching the shop take on a life of its own and find its people has been mint. Every conversation with an excited reader is a highlight for me.”
Kemptown Bookshop, Brighton and Hove
Kemptown Bookshop manager Remony Hart’s bookselling journey began a decade ago at Cirencester indie Octavia’s Bookshop. Two years ago, she moved to Brighton and began working at Kemptown Bookshop with author Cathy Hayward, who had just bought the business. Since then, the focus has been on building it into a community hub and celebrating local authors. In recognition of her hard work, Hart has recently been promoted to manager, “which is very exciting!”
Highlight of 2024
“Our collaboration with Brighton Festival—it’s always a fantastic opportunity to meet different authors, see our customers in the wild and attend some wonderful events. My personal highlights were Salena Godden’s conversation with Afrori Books founder Carolynn Bain and poet and playwright’s Joelle Taylor reading of her debut novel, The Night Alphabet [riverrun].”
If publishers want to keep indie bookshop healthy, they need to react to the pricing imbalance in today’s market – Remony Hart, Kemptown Bookshop
Malvern Book Cooperative, Great Malvern
When Malvern’s local indie closed more than a decade ago, a small group of book lovers formed Malvern Book Cooperative. The group remains “vibrant and thriving” 12 years on, with more than 150 members, according to bookseller and board member Tracy Kelly- Freer. She adds: “We are owned and run by our members and are happy to co-curate a diverse and engaging range of books for and with our local community. We are proud to have our own registered charity, bringing the joy of books and reading to disadvantaged people of all ages in and around Malvern.”
Highlight of 2024
“We have had our fullest programme of local author events since the pandemic. The opportunity to open our doors and embrace talented local authors and poets has been a highlight of 2024. It has been a joy to see our shop filled, once again, with customers and friends, old and new.”
Next Page Books, Hitchin
Friends for 18 years, Julie Anderson and Elizabeth Tye discussed opening an inclusive children’s bookshop “a few times over the years” before taking the plunge in October 2021 as co-owners and directors of Next Page Books. They feel that their skills and backgrounds— Tye is a former primary school teacher and trained Special Educational Needs co-ordinator, while Anderson is Bounce Sales & Marketing’s operations manager—combine well, enabling them to “offer the best recommendations and service to the community, as well as to the many schools with whom we have formed great relationships.”
Highlight of 2024
“Our summer event with Harriet Muncaster, who lives locally and is massively popular. We linked up with a local gelato shop and sold tickets which included an ice cream and an Isadora Moon book, as well as the author talk. We had to put two sessions on back-to-back as demand was huge and tickets sold out in a couple of hours!”
Night Owl Books, East Linton
Unlike many others on this list, Night Owl founder Rebecca Roberts has a long background in bookselling. As a teenager, she spent her Saturdays working at White Rose Books in Thirsk before later managing Thomas Heneage Art Books in St James’s, London. In 2022, she opened her own independent bookshop in the village of East Linton, East Lothian, which was this year named a finalist in the Scotland category for The British Book Awards’ Independent Bookshop of the Year gong.
Highlight of 2024
“Without a doubt interviewing Priscilla Morris and Leo Vardiashvili, authors of Black Butterflies [Duckworth] and Hard by a Great Forest [Bloomsbury], two of my favourite books of the last decade. There are so many fascinating parallels between their novels, and I was so grateful to both authors for travelling to East Lothian for our event.”
Real Magic Books, Wendover
In the couple’s own words, Carl Gosling and Sophie Green “stumbled into bookselling” when they opened their store on Wendover’s high street in September 2022. “We spotted the perfect site and thought it was time to stop moaning about there not being a bookshop in town.” Though Gosling was already working on events around books, at literature festivals and in music, he admits: “Our journey into retail was very sudden. We’re still recovering, very much still learning, but loving it.”
Highlight of 2024
“Our first Real Magic Weekend has been our highlight of the year so far. A three-day mini-festival celebrating books, music, food and drink—all the things we love—was hosted in the shop and in other venues around our town. It was a beautiful buzz. We’re running our next one in October.”
Suddenly Sheaf Books, Daventry
Megan Raynor has always enjoyed reading, but her love of books was particularly rekindled during lockdown, “so much so I created a bookstagram account (@meg.in.a.book) and haven’t looked back!”. She began working as an indie bookseller in 2021 before landing her current role, bookseller and social media manager, at Suddenly on Sheaf Street in 2023, a month before the shop opened its doors in Daventry. She says: “It’s been a whirlwind of a first year, and I feel very proud to be part of the shop’s journey.”
Highlight of 2024
“There’s too many to name. Winning the National Book Tokens’ Newcomer of the Year was incredibly exciting and such a great testament to the support we have received. I love any excuse to be around bookish people, so I’ve particularly enjoyed taking part in our monthly book clubs as well as the many author events we’ve hosted. I will never not be in awe meeting authors!”
The personalised recommendations, indie special editions, welcoming atmosphere and sense of community [at an indie bookshop] cannot be competed with – Megan Raynor, Suddenly Sheaf Books
The Heath Bookshop, Kings Heath, Birmingham
After meeting on the Booksellers Association’s How to Start and Run a Bookshop course in October 2021, Catherine Gale and Claire Dawes hit it off and decided to join forces on a new venture. “We opened The Heath Bookshop in September 2022, and we haven’t looked back!” they say. This year, they got Arts Council funding to launch a festival (more below), featuring speakers including Robin Ince, Michel Faber and Mike Gayle.
Highlight of 2024
“Our first ever The Heath Bookshop Literature and Music Festival in April. Our partners were the local children’s bookshop How Brave is the Wren and music venue the Hare & Hounds. We held it across four days, and it included literature and music events in lots of venues around the Kings Heath area of Birmingham.”
The Wee Bookshop, Dollar
Despite running her own veterinary and nursing CPD business for 15 years, Carly Penderis “always had a romantic idea of working in a bookshop”. So, when she saw an empty chip shop for sale in a nearby town during lockdown, she took a leap of faith. Two years later, after a mammoth renovation, the bookshop—which is open every day and includes a small coffee shop— launched last year. Though she does most of the book buying herself, Penderis credits her six-strong team for mucking in with whatever’s needed on the shop floor.
Highlight of 2024
“Realising we can do it and we are still going! Despite being massively overwhelmed, we are slowly feeling we can achieve our vision of a safe, relaxing community space that is knowledgeable about good books and serves great coffee. The feedback from customers has been astounding. We hope to build on this, and to still be here in 10 years’ time!”
