| There's a Waterstones in Southwold? 16:34 - Feb 27 with 4021 views | ipswich78 |
Waterstones has been sneaking books onto the high street in secret, using a series of unbranded "local" book shops to sell its wares in towns where opening a big W.A.T.E.R.S.T.O.N.E.S. with coffee and a helipad and all that would bristle with the locals a bit too much.
Such as the cute sounding Southwold Books in Southwold...
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/02/have-you-been-conned-by-a-fake-waterstones/
It's a very interesting approach, some might say deceptive? Not sure myself. |  |
| |  |
| There's a Waterstones in Southwold? on 12:35 - Feb 28 with 842 views | giant_stow |
| There's a Waterstones in Southwold? on 12:27 - Feb 28 by HarryfromBath |
Spot on, and they were happy days.
I remember the Leadenhall Market bookshop and it proved why bookshops had to remain distinctive to their customers and market. If I recall correctly, that shop closed on weekends and had a range of stock quite unlike any other in the country with a business and finance section to die for. It was a shop which exemplified the need for buying locally as no head office could begin to second-guess their customers.
In pre-2000 Waterstone's days, booksellers had sections to manage and they were pretty much autonomous as long as their sales held up and they didn't get overstocked. They knew the stock like the back of their hand and the pride in their sections and good opinion of customers and colleagues mitigated the fact that it wasn't lucrative work.
Once the buying was taken out of the shops, the booksellers lost their proximity to the stock and the sections became somewhat homogeneous. Customers often knew as much if not more about their pet subjects than booksellers and could recognise this quickly. |
Yeap it did indeed close at weekends and nearly all their trade was at lunchtime /after 5 and yes, finance books galore! Another thing they used to do a lot of was organise book signings and meet the authors - the now e-book fella used to organise all of this off his own back and actually got to know a load of people by doing so. We used to tease him mercilessly for this (the creep!) but he actually knew best and it helped put that shop on the map.
Anyway, best of luck with your shop, although it sounds liker you're doing fine! |  |
| |
| There's a Waterstones in Southwold? on 12:43 - Feb 28 with 820 views | Steve_M |
| There's a Waterstones in Southwold? on 11:12 - Feb 28 by WeWereZombies |
Well, as far as I know Waterstones pay their fair whack of taxes and Amazon use suspect accounting and work practices to avoid as much as they can. So Waterstones, independent the last time I looked and British to boot, contribute to the state (the group of four nations) I live in.
My son had a mate who worked for Amazon and, as we continually hear, hated it. When I go into Waterstones the staff seem happy and friendly (although I accept that there may be some coercion from company policy to present themselves so).
With three bookshelves full of stuff to read I would not say I am a book fan, I am a bit sick of the things to be honest, but I have my wish list and a project so I carry on adding to the backlog...and reading as fast as I can without my eyes sliding off the page. As I said in my first post there is serendipity, an unexpected delight, in finding a book, DVD or CD that you have always wanted in a charity shop (and the spin off of your money helping a good cause) or secondhand bookshop, especially if you are finding a first edition of a book (then, I suppose if you sell the book on at a profit you should donate the money to charity).
Also, in a High Street environment where you are being marketed at the whole time, I like the unpressurised atmosphere of places where you can browse unhindered. [Post edited 28 Feb 2017 11:15]
|
"Also, in a High Street environment where you are being marketed at the whole time, I like the unpressurised atmosphere of places where you can browse unhindered."
Yep, spending 20 minute or longer browsing in a book shop is one of life's great pleasures. The hard part of that is not buying too many books in a row as I get a bit irritated with myself if I have too many piled up to read. |  |
| |
| There's a Waterstones in Southwold? on 13:11 - Feb 28 with 796 views | WeWereZombies |
| There's a Waterstones in Southwold? on 12:35 - Feb 28 by giant_stow |
Yeap it did indeed close at weekends and nearly all their trade was at lunchtime /after 5 and yes, finance books galore! Another thing they used to do a lot of was organise book signings and meet the authors - the now e-book fella used to organise all of this off his own back and actually got to know a load of people by doing so. We used to tease him mercilessly for this (the creep!) but he actually knew best and it helped put that shop on the map.
Anyway, best of luck with your shop, although it sounds liker you're doing fine! |
The events in book shops thing is also another reason for supporting your local bookshops - Amazon might try webinars or some type of online launch party but nothing compares to hearing an author talk about his work, seeing what questions people ask and how they ask them, even meeting the author eyeball to eyeball and putting a few gentle criticisms their way yourself - I usually find it gets a decent, considered and even grateful response, they get enough of fawning sycophants and 'praise for the author' pages.
That being said, my mate Brad who organised an appearance by a nice and extreme performance poet in Borders, Cambridge right next to the Starbucks concession paid for it with his job. [Post edited 28 Feb 2017 13:16]
|  |
| |
| There's a Waterstones in Southwold? on 13:12 - Feb 28 with 797 views | jpr_23 |
| There's a Waterstones in Southwold? on 12:05 - Feb 28 by HarryfromBath |
Neither, my shop is in the suburbs south of the river and away from the town centre. It is more of a community bookshop aimed at local families in the area with a large childrens' section. World Book Day this week is a major milestone in our calendar. |
Sounds cool! I'm a sort of local family, let me know what it is and I'll check it out next time I'm around...
My daughter is dressing as Scooby Doo for World Book Day, which I'm not sure counts but she is adamant it does as she has Scooby Doo books. I was trying to convince her to go as Arnold Muhren after reading the new book about him and Frans! |  |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
