Bookshops have seen an increase in the past decade, but their recent resurgence is endangered by current price cost of living challenges.
According to the Booksellers Association, an industry representative body, the number of member stores across the UK and Ireland had dipped between 1995-2017 to 868, but had risen by 2023 to 1,063.
The number of bookshops has risen since the pandemic ended – and Meryl Hall, of the Booksellers Association, says this comes down to “people understanding the value of the physical space and relationship that people have with a bookseller and it offers people an intimate and emotional relationship as you often ask for recommendations from the people that work there”.
Vida Adamczewski, who works at Review Bookshop in Peckham, told City News that the “personal aspect of bookshops is something that people really missed during the pandemic and are now gravitating back towards the bookshop”.
Corner not yet turned for bookshops
Rising rents and declining foot traffic on high streets has hurt bookshops in the last few years. Adamczewski explained that there continued rise and future was dependent on how expensive fixed costs of running a bookshop are and in “London in particular rising rent combined with energy costs could turn the tide for the growth of independent bookshops.”
The rise of eBooks spelled trouble for bookshops, but Hall, of the bookseller’s association, stated that many of their member bookshops were looking to diversify the way they sell books to keep up with online demand.
She stated that “bookshops are going to get better at offering different formats.”
Adamczewski said that online bookshops like Book.org reinvest some of their profit into independent bookshops. She further stated that there was “fear and paranoia” that Amazon and other online retailers would decimate bookshops – but in fact the opposite has been happening, she says people are realising that buying a book in person is a “different kind of purchase.”
Shops serve a community role, says owner
There has also been a rise in young people giving up on nightclubs in 2024 and instead turning to late night book clubs. Hall stated that “for young people in their 20s and 30s, money is tight and they can’t afford to go out especially living in London, so bookshop events deliver something that is enriching and nourishing and it brings you together with like-minded people.”
“Book clubs in bookshops are delivering a community that isn’t reliant on going out, this community is more intimate. We crave profound human connection,” she further explained.
Hall also talked about the push in 2024 to get young people into the bookshop. The Booksellers Association launched brilliant bookshop campaign and have teamed with the charity, Yellow Lighted Bookshop to get books into the hands of children in underrepresented communities.
She states, “it’s a slow process but if you can do that you reach kids in that way then you can change their life and you can bring something to them, they didn’t know existed.”
Hall does admit that the decline of the high street remains a real problem for bookshops, but she hopes that by “diversifying the workforce and consumer of bookshops will allow bookshops to keep growing in number.”
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Standfirst
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Headline‘Rising rent and energy costs’ could endanger bookshop growth in London
Short HeadlineHow are bookshops dealing with rent and energy costs in London?
Standfirst Figures show that the number of independent and chain bookshops grew in 2024, but not without challenges
Bookshops have seen an increase in the past decade, but their recent resurgence is endangered by current price cost of living challenges.
According to the Booksellers Association, an industry representative body, the number of member stores across the UK and Ireland had dipped between 1995-2017 to 868, but had risen by 2023 to 1,063.
The number of bookshops has risen since the pandemic ended – and Meryl Hall, of the Booksellers Association, says this comes down to “people understanding the value of the physical space and relationship that people have with a bookseller and it offers people an intimate and emotional relationship as you often ask for recommendations from the people that work there”.
Vida Adamczewski, who works at Review Bookshop in Peckham, told City News that the “personal aspect of bookshops is something that people really missed during the pandemic and are now gravitating back towards the bookshop”.
Corner not yet turned for bookshops
Rising rents and declining foot traffic on high streets has hurt bookshops in the last few years. Adamczewski explained that there continued rise and future was dependent on how expensive fixed costs of running a bookshop are and in “London in particular rising rent combined with energy costs could turn the tide for the growth of independent bookshops.”
The rise of eBooks spelled trouble for bookshops, but Hall, of the bookseller’s association, stated that many of their member bookshops were looking to diversify the way they sell books to keep up with online demand.
She stated that “bookshops are going to get better at offering different formats.”
Adamczewski said that online bookshops like Book.org reinvest some of their profit into independent bookshops. She further stated that there was “fear and paranoia” that Amazon and other online retailers would decimate bookshops – but in fact the opposite has been happening, she says people are realising that buying a book in person is a “different kind of purchase.”
Shops serve a community role, says owner
There has also been a rise in young people giving up on nightclubs in 2024 and instead turning to late night book clubs. Hall stated that “for young people in their 20s and 30s, money is tight and they can’t afford to go out especially living in London, so bookshop events deliver something that is enriching and nourishing and it brings you together with like-minded people.”
“Book clubs in bookshops are delivering a community that isn’t reliant on going out, this community is more intimate. We crave profound human connection,” she further explained.
Hall also talked about the push in 2024 to get young people into the bookshop. The Booksellers Association launched brilliant bookshop campaign and have teamed with the charity, Yellow Lighted Bookshop to get books into the hands of children in underrepresented communities.
She states, “it’s a slow process but if you can do that you reach kids in that way then you can change their life and you can bring something to them, they didn’t know existed.”
Hall does admit that the decline of the high street remains a real problem for bookshops, but she hopes that by “diversifying the workforce and consumer of bookshops will allow bookshops to keep growing in number.”
