While I should be writing

On one way, the story of Simply Books reads like the ultimate guide to how not to open a bookshop, which is probably why they are so successful. If we thought too much about what following our dreams really entails, none of us would ever quit or day job.

But quit their day job they did; first Andrew, and then Sue.

“I’d always had this ridiculous pipedream about running a bookshop (with a cafe!) ever since visiting Barnes & Noble in Boston in about 1978”, says Andrew on the bookshop’s website. “I got somewhat diverted by a career in the education service in Manchester (for 20 odd years).”

The bookshop in Bramhall came up for sale, and the crazy dream of running a bookshop suddenly started to seem almost … possible. They made the decision, did the numbers, talked to the current owner, negotiated, and then … the owner sold it to someone else.

“Out of the blue, the owner calls and tells us that it’s been sold to someone else. It was quite a miserable weekend”, Andrew says. Mentally, they’d already made the decision to start a bookshop. So why not … do it anyway? From scratch. With another bookshop in town already. “We believed in the bookshop we wanted to create. So we did it.”

The plan at first was for Sue to keep her job within the education sector and not be involved in the day-to-day running of the shop. But as she explains on the website: “Over the summer before we opened I got hooked! Designing the shop with a blank piece of paper was brilliant, managing the builders not so much fun but good practice for keeping Andrew in line!”

And what a shop it is. Not only is the bookshop itself charming; full of little personal touches and details. But the things they do with local schools are impressive, including local awards, decided by school kids, bookgroups and author events.

They also have a large space reserved for the books that the staff themselves love, so when I asked Andrew for a recommendation it wasn’t that difficult.

“Let’s just go to my shelf over here. This might actually be the best book I’ve ever read. I recommend it to everyone; we’ve sold almost one a week for years.”

Which is, I think, a good testiment to the power of the booksellers’ recommendations.

Urmston is a small town just outside Manchester, with a sprawling city centre that was almost wiped out by the grand ambitions of politicians. Why be satisfied with streets lined with shops, when you can build some big mall instead? Like so many of these projects it was finished by the time the recession arrived.

Urmston Bookshop is run by Frances and Peter Hopkins: “We’d like to think that opening an independent bookshop also showed that we believed in this town.” And other independent businesses seem to agree.

Flixton Road, where the bookshop is located, now boasts an utterly charming vintage shop, a specialist dancewear shop, a clothing boutique, a sweet shop, a tattoo parlour and “many other quaint, quirky or useful little businesses that keep Urmston interesting”, according to a website that promotes independent business in Urmston. That website also listed five reasons Why We Need Independent Bookhops (and why we should shop at independent bookshops at World Book Day, and I completely agree with all of them.

Their recommendation for me: Longbourn, since I was heading towards Bath and Jane Austen-territory.

Their promise: “If you come back, you’ll get a cake based in the jacket of your book.” How can anyone possibly resist?

I almost began this blog post by saying that Storytellers Inc., the lovely bookshop on 7 The Crescent, St Annes-on-the-Sea, save their real passion for childrens books. But that’s not strictly true. In fact, the mother-daughter-team that runs the bookshop seems to be passionate about almost everything in their bookshop: there’s the large poetry-section, the numerous reading groups (children, young adults, adults and adults reading young adult), and, of course, the reading room and the childrens books.

When they opened a few years ago, they did focus exclusively on childrens books, even though they offered to order any book that any customer might like. “But if you didn’t have children you really didn’t feel you could go into the shop and order something, when the window was filled exclusively with childrens book”, said Katie Clapham, the daughter part of the team.

But it is true that they are still passionate about childrens books. Their dedication is so contagious that I ended up buying a Baby lit – classic books retold and re-illustrated for 0 – 3 years old, or 31 year old book ners. Katie was even gracious enough to sell me one form her own private stash, when she realized I was most tempted by Jane Eyre. And then she immediately re-ordered one for her self. “I don’t have any children yet, but you never know when these kinds of books go out of print”, she said somewhat defensively. Me, I haven’t got any children and is quite certain that I never will, but what has that got to do with anything? “Although I keep them here at work”, she confessed. “I haven’t told my boyfriend that I’ve started a childrens books collection for the future.”

While I have certainly come across two generation booksellers before (The New Bookshop was one, for example, and my old boss in the bookshop I used to work for was third generation bookseller in our town), it’s the first time I’ve come across a mother and daughter who opened the bookshop together.

What’s the best thing with running a bookshop?
Mother: “Being your own boss. That you get to decide things for yourself.”
Daughter: “But mother, you always say it’s me coming back home again!”
Mother: “Errrr… yes. Yes, of course. You coming home, and us getting to decide everything for ourselves.”
Daughter: “Being able to decide everything is great. I just order the books I love myself.”
Mother: “Yes… and I try to sell some of them. We usually say I’m the business manager arounds here.
Daughter: “And I’m the creative director!

Katie was studying and working in London, living in a cheap flat above and Indian take away and working extra as a technical editor. While studying, she somehow always thought that she would just go on living in London for ever, but after graduating, she looked around and asked: “But do I really want to?” So she rented a small cottage and did some soul-searching, and then she went back home to St Annes-on-the-Sea and opened a bookshop with her mother.

And what a bookshop it is.

Their recommendation? “The Woman in Black” by Susan Hill. “The scariest book you’ve never read. I know A Christmas Carol is the ultimate Christmas ghost story, but this is the definite second.”

Of course, it didn’t really stop there, did it? “This is our bestseller at the moment”, she said, and then: “Oh, and this book! It’s the one our young adult reading group are doing at the moment, and it’s the book that changed everything for me.” – “Oh, and these! Aren’t they beautiful?”

It’s a sign of my discipline and focus that I only ended up buying two books.

For example, at this very minute I’m not looking at English fields or sheep or lambs. Even more strange, yesterday I didn’t visit a single bookshop and you know what – I might not even do it today either.

I don’t think this is the way life’s supposed to be, do you?

The only good thing about being home is that all the lovely books I’ve bought is catching up with me again. And that I’m behind with my blog, so at least I’ll get to revisit some great bookshops in the near future.