The Demise of the British Bookshop?

Next time you’re in your local high street, take a quick look around. The odds are that you’ll have to look a lot harder than you did three years ago to find an all purpose bookshop. Since the recession began to bite, the number of high profile book chains which once dominated our local high streets has dwindled to a mere handful. 

With reports stating that March 2011 was the worst in six years for book sales compounded by the news that high-street giant Waterstones has been put on the market, perhaps its time we remind ourselves how we ended up in this state.

Twenty years ago, nationwide, high street book chains were the norm. The great British public had their pick of Waterstones, Ottakar’s, Blackwell’s, Dillons and stationers WH Smith as well as independent and second hand bookshops to purchase their books from. A bit of re-shuffling amongst the main players (Dillons and Ottakar’s were bought by the HMV group, and amalgamated into the Waterstones chain, which the group also owns, in 1995 and 2006 respectively) and the introduction of Borders in 1998 and then its subsequent loss in 2009, has changed the face of book selling within the British high street. At present, Waterstones and Blackwel’ls are the only nationwide bookshops left trading, with the threat currently facing Waterstones being heralded by some as a portent to the fate of paper book. The influx of predictable and unpredictable challenges which British booksellers have had to face during the last fifteen years has both revolutionised and wounded the industry and the consequences of those actions are being made clearer everyday.

Beginning with the collapse of the Book Net Agreement in the mid nineties, larger book selling chains began to enter into the murky terrain of price wars with supermarket chains. Now that any retailer could negotiate exclusive price cuts with publishers, a succession of increasingly complex discounts became available as various outlets tried to entice the canny shopper into their stores. Great news for the customer and even better for the supermarkets, but not so good for the humble bookshop. In short, although supermarkets make a loss on cut price books (just like traditional bookstores) the profit they make on other lines (groceries, petrol etc) absorbs that loss; a luxury not afforded to booksellers who are forced to reduce their main profit in an attempt to compete.

Throw into the mix the rise of e- books and online bookstores without the additional overheads which store rent, staff levels and various other bills contribute and it’s a recipe for disaster for the humble bricks and mortar bookstore.  

Through all this doom and gloom, there have been some positive signs of retailers adapting to survive. Big hitter Blackwell’s has so far bucked the trend of its contemporaries by cornering the academic market. Many of its sixty branches can be found on or near University campuses and their early branching into academic publishing cemented their reputation for academic excellence. Instead of trying to appeal to the public on masse, they focused their efforts on a specific target market and have prospered because of it.

Up and down the country, success stories are found in the form of independent bookshops which target their stock to their local audience. Certain niche interest bookshops have weathered the storms of recession better than book selling behemoths due to their loyal customer basis who appreciate their specialist knowledge. In my local city, a Military History bookstore has survived a variety of thriving second hand bookstores and outlived a Dillons, a second branch of Waterstones and a very busy branch of Borders, all of which were within a five minute stroll. Always busy, on the occasions I’ve visited, I have always seen members of staff talking enthusiastically with customers about the books on offer. The books on offer may not have the cheapest price point available, but the customers don’t seem to mind judging by their continued presence.

Another success story is the rise of the second hand bookshop. Down side streets or arcades just off the main shopping streets, these treasure troves not only offer a breadth of titles but also at mark down prices. The explosion of Oxfam Bookstores is a case in point. Whilst some say Oxfam has muscled in on the territories of traditional second hand bookshops, stealing their business with a well known name and an unfair advantage in selling donated, rather than purchased stock, the fact remains that Oxfam is popular because there is an increasing demand for cheap, available books along with a browsing experience.

No matter how many people stand up and declare their devotion to the common bookshop and for the experience of browsing and finding new, previously unknown, authors, there are no just as many people who will proudly admit their allegiance to Amazon and to e-books. Yet the availability of e-books still lags far behind its printed cousin, with no real consensus over pricing being reached so far. In addition, although buying books online has become more and more popular thanks to unbeatable price points and the convenience of door to door delivery, most people agree that online book shopping is only useful when looking for a specific book. Until online retailers figure out a way to transfer the browsing experience of a shop to the web, the majority of book buyers who aren’t sure which book they want to purchase will continue to visit bookstores, if only to choose a title to later buy online. 

Right now the future of British book selling is far from secure. It remains to be seen exactly how the industry will face its problems in the future. Will it choose to continue to directly compete with online bookstores and digital readers or will it move back into specialisation and focus on delivering quality browsing and customer services which online retailers just cannot offer?

For now, most of the book selling world’s eyes are firmly fixed on the plight of Waterstones. With rumours circulating of a possible co-ownership deal between former owner Tim Waterstone and the Russian owner of LiveJournal , Alexandar Mamut, there is significant hope for the future of the chain. Even if this rumoured deal proceeds smoothly, Waterstones will still have to cope with the myriad of problems which the book industry currently faces: a sobering thought for all book lovers as well as Waterstones’ staff.

Book selling in the UK has already changed dramatically in the last twenty years and you can safely bet that it will change even more in the foreseeable future. Is this the beginning of the end for the British bookshop? Let’s hope not.

Photographs by Hannah Lewis