Running an independent bookshop?!

[Laquila]

Does anyone hear run a bookshop and fancy talking to me about it?! It’s a plan I’m currently considering... I’ve been looking at a building for sale which has housed an established bookshop for a good twenty years. As far as I can see the business itself isn’t currently for sale but I’m trying to find out whether they’d sell the assets (effectively the stock and equipment such as cash registers, fittings etc).

I’ve never run my own business but am reasonably knowledgeable about basic business principles...if anyone wants to share their experience (or just warn me off?!) I’d be very grateful! Obviously I’m in the process of getting in touch with the local chamber of commerce to see how they can help, but I guess what I’m looking to hear about are the particular challenges of running an indie bookshop nowadays. I’ve shopped in enough of them to know that the key is diversification and differentiation, but can you still make a profit even after all that?

Bump

I have no experience of running a business so not really able to advise you, I just didn't want to read and run.

One thing I would like to say though is that if you do go open this business think carefully about your pricing. I mention this because an independent bookstore opened near here last year. I only managed to visit it once in between lockdowns but I felt everything was very overpriced and decided I probably wouldn't be back. For example, one side of the shop stocked new books, many of them specialist subjects, and the other side was all second hand books. There was very little difference between the cost of a new book @6.99 and a used one @ 4.50. We have a lot of charity shops near by including a Concern bookshop and an Oxfam bookshop. I would regularly spend $20/25 in them and go home with enough books to last me a few weeks. I feel like it might be hard to make a decent profit if you had competition like this nearby.

I would love to be able to afford to shop at an independent bookstore more often but sadly I am on a tight budget.

If you do decide to go for it I hope it will be a great success for you!

There is a fantastic independent book shop in Ryde on the Isle of Wight. Some new, mostly second hand. I'm not sure how they keep going, may be they do online sales as well, however it may be worth contacting them for advice as they are always really helpful. I've never not got a weird and out of date book from them that I wanted. It's the sort of book shop that you can loose a day in.

Is there an author who lives near you? I love the steyning bookshop. They regularly have authors signing things because they want to support independent bookshops. Julia Donaldson lives near there and does lots of signing events for them

I've never run one but I used to work in one (only 3 staff so pretty good idea about how it ran.) The main, massive setback is that in order to keep a decent selection you have a huge amount of money tied up in your stock compared to what can be a very small daily turnover. You need to have a good idea of who your customers will be, for example this shop was in a touristy village but tourists counted as a very small part of the trade. A lot of our customers were older and wary of the Internet so amazed that if we didn't have it in stock we could get it the next day. I imagine post-pandemic there are not many people left who can't get to grips with amazon though! Our best-sellers list rarely mirrored the national ones. It was sold and made into a more gifty shop but there is a successful and well-regarded one in another village near me,. They have diversified a lot, have a coffee shop, deli, run author events etc; during the pandemic they've been making up book bundles. It is important to think about other income streams. It is hands-on work, I was always busy even on very quiet days. I think the owners of the one near here previously had high-flying jobs but I never go in there without seeing one of them working at the till or in the cafe.

None of this is meant to put you off, I loved working in a bookshop! Do some rigorous number-crunching to see if you can make it work. And good luck!

Hard work, very little profit in it, you have to LOVE books and not simply the Richard Curtis idea of running a bookshop. Lots of heavy lifting (literally, with book deliveries), rude customers who will come and photograph your shelves to buy from Amazon, need to open 7 days a week to maximise sales and run online too, plus do extra events. And staffing costs so you’ll need to be a manager, owner, bookseller, visual merchandiser, event organiser, PR, social media manager, web editor, cafe owner, etc.

What’s the bookshop USP? Lots of the ones that stand out and stayed standing during pandemic have an extra something: they’re also a publisher, or only stock under-represented and marginalised authors, or are close to a literary pilgrimage location, or there are chickens and a beautiful garden, etc.

Have a read of Shaun Bythell's Diary of a Bookseller and Confessions of a Bookseller before you decide. They're both hilarious but he's still very much in business (and probably still being rude to his customers).

Running a bookshop has been my dream since being a little girl. Sadly, i think the internet has made it next to impossible as you just can't compete on price and selection.

Successful shops seem to be in a great location, specialist in some way or diversified into coffee shops/events.

You would now need to think of your bookshop as a destination rather than somewhere that simply sells books. When people can get same day delivery at low prices on Amazon, they need a reason to come to your shop. Even those who support indies in general will buy from Amazon. You'll need to provide something - many things, even - that Amazon can't.

A bookshop has just opened on my highstreet and I just cannot see it surviving long. It has too many genres, but not enough choice in any of them. The decor is distinctly not cosy - office-type carpet, Ikea shelves, cheap plastic exterior signage. I went in to buy a couple of books and when I went to the till, the owner was eating a packet of crisps over the counter and simply wiped his hands on his trousers before putting my books through the till.

I kind of feel sorry for them as it's clearly someone's dream, but really!

Independent bookshops that manage to keep their doors open know their stock inside out and can recommend different books for people who have enjoyed x,y, or z. They have author events, workshops and they sell extras like gifts and cards. They will offer things like book subscriptions and they package everything beautifully. They have comfy chairs for you to sit and have a browse. They often have a cafe at the back.

A friend of mine runs a independent bookshop and I also worked in a different one while in Uni.
It is hard work and becoming less and less profitable. My friend often has people come in and browse the books and take photos of books to order online.
She has diversified and now has a coffee shop but had to stop people bring books to the tables as they were wrecked by people. She does not get the discounts from publishing houses that chain bookstores/supermarkets get and sadly often the same book is 20% cheaper in a nearby supermarket When she opened first she found it hard not to just stock books that interested her and lost a lot of business and even years later many of my neighbours do not visit the store as they feel they will not find something of interest.

The coffee shop is her biggest earner by far. She also stocks craft items. However the coffee shop location is what is it attraction rather than the fact it is in a bookshop. Both she and the owners of the bookshop I worked in owned the buildings they were in, had a large amount of capital behind them, and did not have to take out any loans. The bookshop I worked in mainly broke even but it was a hobby for the owner. They did have quite a large premises and had an amazing selection of second handbooks that they bought for pennies in charity shops all over the country.

This is all great food for thought - thank you everyone!

The USP thing is an interesting question - to be honest I think it's mainly that it's very well established and has a loyal customer base in a town that's very proud of its high street and actively encourages local shopping. Covid has of course had a serious effect on this, but they've offered a collection service throughout. They also stock a lot of local history books, offer a standard 20% off certain categories of non-fiction and a BOGOHP on all paperbacks. They generally seem to be able to order things in very quickly.

Where I think there's room for improvement is in terms of their social media and community engagement - they have no social media presence so can't advertise deals/seasonal promos/leftover stock like that. They have a great children's section but there's nothing seocifically geared around that in terms of kids loyalty cards, completions etc. To my knowledge they've never run any events, either onsite or locally (the space itself doesn't lend itself to large gatherings and no room really for a cafe. Also the town is very well served for cafes!)

They have a lot of cards but no gift stock and no sidelines such as book lovers' accessories etc. It's a fairly cramped space but it could definitely be improved - I'm confident I could make it more welcoming and also accommodate gifts and associated stock.

@1000umbrellas The inventory issue is my main worry I think, really. Having said that, in its current state it has an INSANE amount of stock in a very cramped space and I do wonder whether they've suffered a bit from trying to be all things to all people. Also I don't think they're ever done much in the way of shifting old stock at a loss in order to make some room, if that makes sense.

Book subscriptions is a good example, @SignOnTheWindow - I really think they could've done well on such a relatively easy income diversification stream, but I course I don't know their reasons.

It actually only the building for sale at the moment - tbh if they aren't also prepared to sell the stock and possibly the goodwill, I don't know if I'd be able to make it work.

Presumably the bookshop owners just rent the premises?

So you’d be entering into a property purchase with one set of people and then also trying to negotiate a business buyout with another set of people?

It would be very unusual if they owned the building to be selling it but intending to rent from the new owner.

My understanding is that the bookshop owners are also the building owners, and they're selling the building itself. I've contacted the agents over the weekend to ask for more info and will ask whether they know anything about the sale of the business, but I can't seem them wanting to continue elsewhere (the current business owners are fairly elderly). Tbh it hadn't occured to me that it might not be the bookshop owners selling the building (I'd always assumed they owned it) but that could in fact be the case.

It would be an odd business decision to sell the building but not the business, so you definitely want to find out what their plans are. I’d imagine if the bookshop owners are the building owners they are closing up, and think it will be more profitable to sell as a building plus vacant shop rather than as a bookshop specifically.

In terms of stock don’t worry too much. Obviously cash flow is an issue but books are sold on a ‘sale or return’ basis from publishers so if it doesn’t sell within e.g 4 months you can package stuff up for a refund (terrible model for publishers, tbh!) and you can negotiate relatively generous credit periods.

As others have said - slim margins (very slim) and hard work, much creativity needed. You definitely won’t retire rich...

Nothing to add really, just wanted to wish you well. The best job I ever had was working in a bookshop. There were just three of us, we knew our customers inside out. We did children's story readings, kept in touch with the local school about topics, organised a bring your teddy pyjama party, loyalty cards, and as many book signings as we could arrange. It was so sad when I had to move on to something better paid.

@NoSquirrels The only thing I'm really sure I can bring to it is creativity 😁 I had a vague idea about the sale and return model but thank you for clarifying. I agree it's a terrible model for publishers (what have they got to lose by not offering a return process?!) I think you're right about the owners wanting to sell it with vacant possession.

@whatwouldnanado That sounds wonderful! I absolutely see that events would be the way forward, that's why I'm a bit sceptical about the suitability of the space for a bookshop going forward.

Read Shaun Bythell's books about running his bookshop in Wigtown (or see his Facebook page). It's a dying trade unless you are very, very good and will work like blazes is the impression I get.

It's a lovely idea but not a great idea IMO, business wise! I worked in a library until recently and people taking books out was in fairly steep decline, and had been for ages.
People used the library service more for IT and used the free e-book service where you can loan the book on your kindle or ipad for 3 weeks. Free. Wide selection. Can be done from home.

I personally love reading but haven't stepped foot in a bookshop for 3 years.

A children's bookshop on the other hand....

There's a v successful one in my area.
I think it does well because as parents we want our kids to actually see and feel books.
Learn to read from actual books. Hold them, play with them and get used to having around.

I buy far more hard copy books for the DC than I do for myself (i'm mainly kindle and DH buys second hand online) as long as they are reasonably priced! And i'd love to take them to a 'meet the author' event or a kids bookclub / themed craft related event at a book shop. It seems wholesome 😂

We did events tying in with National Book Week, invited Brownie packs in for the Readers Badge. The loyalty card was very popular. Having said all this the owner was loaded and owned the building. It was a hobby at first really then he sort of left us to it and enjoyed the status. If I was running my own bookshop in our town I would stock music supplies, just something we are short of here. Also the 'grey pound' is something to chase after, so nostalgic quality craft stuff, toys, cards and gift wrap. If only we could win the lottery!

We have a brilliant independent a few miles away The Mainstreet Trading Company. Run by someone who used to work in children’s publishing so their children’s section is excellent. But - they’ve had to diversify into coffee shop/deli/homewares to make the business pay. They also do a lot of author events, bookclubs and they tie in with a local literary festival every year. It’s a lovely shop but obviously buying a hardback autobiography from them for £26.99 when you can buy it on Amazon for a tenner is going to make it hard. I fucking hate Amazon.

Specialist bookshops seem to do ok - specialising in say, cookery or gardening or military or (a la Notting Hill) travel. Or like Persephone and Virago, specialising in women’s writing (always make a beeline for Persephone Books on the vanishingly rare occasions I’m in London). Or secondhand - have a look at Barter Books in Northumberland - absolutely a destination bookshop.

There's been a few items on BBC News about the ups and (mostly) downs of independent book selling:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-51129840

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53136711

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-47091597

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-42536927

Thank you so much everyone - I do appreciate you all taking the time to offer thoughts/experience/advice. So much to think about. Off to read/view those links, @BarbaraofSeville, thank you!

(To the pp who mentioned Barter Books - my mother is obsessed with that place! She hasn't stopped going about it since she went 😁)