Indie bookshops ‘buck the trend’ of retail gloom as store numbers stay high
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Britain’s independent bookshops are “bucking the trend of high street decline”, according to a trade group, with last year’s number of stores remaining near a recent 10-year high. The UK and Ireland had 1,052 independent bookshops at the end of 2024, down only slightly on the year before when the figure was 1,063, said the Booksellers Association.
The sector has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, driven in part by Covid-19 lockdowns and a subsequent rise in enthusiasm for reading, events and the physical spaces of bookshops, say owners. Numbers have recovered from a record low of 867 independent bookshops in 2016 to a peak of 1,072 shops in 2022.
Nic Bottomley, who runs Mr B’s Emporium in Bath, said events and curated book subscription services have become an increasingly important part of his business. Mr B’s Emporium holds more than 50 events of its own per year, such as talks with authors, plus many more for other organisations – including launch parties at the shop or pop-up sales elsewhere.
“Bookshops tend to be run by pretty energized creative people who are looking for opportunities to do different things,” he said. “You have to not just be a shop, but be a shop that feels like it’s a warm, welcoming, experiential place.”. He added: “I’m not saying that that doesn’t exist in in other forms of retail, but it’s at the heart and soul of book selling.”.
