Book Shop

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Mirandola

House of Hodge (aka AN Wilsher) on Blackstock Road is ,in its way, a perfect second hand bookshop.

miss annie

I love that shop!

Mirandola

Miss Annie's given far better advice than I can, but here's my potential customer take on what I'd want from a bookshop, apart from the obvious (interesting stock, knowledgeable staff...) Nothing shrinkwrapped. Somewhere to sit and read, without obvious pressure to buy. No godawful buy two get one free or 20% off offers. I'm not buying yogurt. A filing system that brings surprises. The Daunt's by country arrangement is genius, but tricky to replicate. Some Italian bookshops used to order books by publisher. The Warburg library goes by subject - that last is perhaps my favorite but probably the hardest. I dunno, surprise me. Beautiful books. Old green penguins or extravagant art books, whatever, things that I want to pick up, stroke, and whisper precioussss to. Corollary - no nasty things printed on crap paper. Events - signings, readings, book groups, writing evenings. That literary night Sugar Lounge used to do was a hit, wasn't it? No keep calm and fuck a cupcake posters Local books, small press. Persephone books, John Julius Norwich's Christmas Crackers.

miss annie

@Mirandola Wise words. If I could change two big things about Waterstones it would be ditch all multibuys except for children's books and study guides - people love those on a deal, and hire a big skip and get rid of all 'related products' except for cards and Moleskines. Our Piccadilly and Gower St shops usually have the full range of Persephone, Eland and other small and specialist publishers.

harpistic

Not to defend the multibuys, but they're very good at persuading customers to explore and buy books they wouldn't have considered otherwise. <br><br>Many times I've gone to a Waterstones for one or two books and ended up with 6 or more... !<br>

emine

I quite like a multibuy, otherwise I'd echo most people's good advice above. Evening readings a must, unusual finds (I'd happily buy a new Persephone book every week), a space that feels like a treat to go into, and if you're going to have a coffee space I think you need to find some way of stopping people sitting there all day with their laptops working on their screenplays. I don't know how you'd do this, but it annoys me. <div><br></div><div>Like miss annie, I'd be cautious that SGR isn't maybe the right place for it, but if you can make it a "destination" bookshop hopefully you'd thrive. I used to go to the Crouch End one and it was a bit dusty, with too many cheap classics and older cookbooks and random self-help books and it just felt a bit unloved towards the end. </div><div><br></div><div>I'm nearly nine months in to my Amazon boycott *insert smug face here* and it is a bit of a pain having to go to an actual bookshop and track books down. Next-day ordering of books you don't have in would be fairly essential I think. </div>

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Mirandola

Yeah, I'm sceptical about the coffee thing to. It can work (Foyles, LRB cafe') but it can be a bit meh too. One last thought - the Tollington parish is very active and tries hard to involve young people etc... Wonder if there's a link to be made there?

TheMimsy

<div><br></div><div>I used to hate the way the old Foyles was organised...</div><div><br></div><div>My favourite indy bookshop is Houseman' in King's Cross.</div>

miss annie

I met Christina Foyle once, she was terrifying. Houseman's is a bit single agenda radical for my tastes, they have an impressive selection for such a niche shop though. Very enthusiastic staff.

ADGS

I know what you mean, but they do occasionally deviate from the script. Had some Arthur Machen talks there a couple of weeks back (which, alas, were booked out before I even heard about them). Plus, in a place like London, I like how you can have niche shops - I'm not that into crime, but still thought the demise of Murder One was sad.

miss annie

Yes, I was saddened by the loss of Zwemmers and the closure of Silver Moon, I know it still exists inside Foyles but it's not the same. Still, bonkers old Watkins are keeping the flag for niche books alive in Cecil Court. I love Marchpane there too, which reminds me, has Ripping Yarns in Highgate survived the rent review? They were going to have to close if they couldn't reach an agreement with the landlord.

ADGS

It was still operational in June, which was the last time I passed that way.

djalicat

I have over 20 years experience in retail and half of that has been in bookstores. (So, when the shop opens I'd love to come and work for you.)<br>I think you should consider all the student housing going up in Finsbury Park. All those students will need supplies, books for research papers, essays and projects.<br>There's a great little bookstore right next to South Kensington station.<br>

munwin

I've been following this site for ages but this is the first time I've posted.  A bookshop in Stroud Green - brill.  And if you need staff, I'm your woman.  But no one has mentioned the brilliant Oxfam bookshop (and record shop) in Crouch End. I should declare an interest - I volunteer there - but it is a gorgeous shop with a mix of old and new and a lovely, slightly eccentric atmosphere.

miss annie

Horrifically overpriced on some things, ridiculously under on some of the vinyl. I have a friend who makes several hundred quid on vinyl he buys there and sells on eBay. Whoever does the pricing in there needs their bumps felt. Please tell them to consult eBay as they're losing out on stacks of cash!

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munwin

Pricing in charity shops is particularly tricky.  There is a duty to the donors to get the best price for their often beloved objects, a duty to the local community to provide fairly priced goods which they can afford and a duty to the charity to raise as much money as possible.  £2.50 for fiction seems reasonable to me (£1.00 for some in not so good condition).  The higher-priced stuff, i.e. over £5.00, is very much cheaper than could be asked for online  (where we sell books of specialist interest which are not likely to appeal to the good burghers of Crouch End). Vinyl is not my forte but I think the reasoning is that low prices attract a lot of customers who will also be attracted to the higher-priced records which we also sell.  (I should add that I do not speak for Oxfam  or the shop management - I am only one of a lot of humble volunteers.)

miss annie

I understand all of that but my pal bought two records a couple of weeks ago for about £4 each, he sold one last week for £210. Strikes me that to fulfil the obligations listed above, Oxfam should be doing a bit more research and opening an eBay shop!

Mirandola

Pete Paphides (ex Melody Maker, married to Caitlin Moran) was talking about that Oxfam's record shops recently on twitter.

harpistic

A friend was asking today for feedback on buying secondhand books through Amazon; he hadn't heard of Abe Books and ended up saving a small fortune through buying through them instead. That made me wonder if it'd be an idea to use Abe in the new bookshop, eg for ordering in books? Re charity shop books, a friend has a secondhand bookshop in Guatemala, so I've gone through charity shops in London with her looking for books, her policy was not to spend more than £1 per book, and the quality was usually pretty good. She also hires books out, in her shop.

miss annie

Abe Books is owned by Amazon.

harpistic

But at least it's still a standalone business and not an Amazon portal. <br>

Detritus

I don't work in a bookshop nor retail but I just can't see a bookshop working on SGR. People will come certainly, but for how long? My dream is to own a bookshop it has been for years, but just hearing Miss Annie talk about waterstones doesn't fill me with confidence about that plan. Amazon are the enemy, why would people go to a bookshop when you can download from the sofa. and as Miss Annie said people come into a bookshop look around and then order online as it's just cheaper. Amazon get a government grant because they have a huge warehouse is Scotland and don't pay all that much tax, but if your bookshop doesn't pay tax promptly you will be squashed like a bug. That horrible company are crushing the life out of independent bookshops. But the floating bookshop on the regents canal is in my top 3 along with stories in LA. I hope it works out as I really do, but sadly can't see it.

miss annie

Abe Books is just a department of Amazon. It's just branded differently, your money goes to Amazon same as it does with Lovefilm or Audible. Same as Hatchards and Waterstones actually.

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ChangN4N6

My mum used to show me VHS of a cartoon which had a man in a bowler hat going into a bookshop reading and turning into a cowboy, deep sea diver and other things. Can't remember more or the name but that is the sort of shop which would get ppl in from Highgate and places beyond 6 acres . Sort of fantasy shop.aybe with a top shelf section. Chang

Detritus

You are wrong Chang Mr Benn went in to a fancy dress shop not a book shop. But it makes my top 5 cartoons, along with scoobydoo, the clangers and others. As a side point Chang how much soup would a mouse be able to eat? As the soup dragon could have been attempting to kill the clangers. And would the dragon in Ivor the engine and the soup dragon be closely related or 2 independently created dragons? You are a vet so should known the soup drinking ability of a mouse.

ChangN4N6

Yes it was Mister Ben, I will look out for it. A good show. Dragons - we don't get much call to treat em but many clients (usually of rancid cats) wud fit that description! . Mice don't like hot stuff like soup but rats have even eaten a hot curry. Ivor, i don't know about him. I think it is the name of Vitors assistant but may not be the same one? Chang