The Haslemere Bookshop is an independent bookshop at the heart of Haslemere High Street selling new and second-hand books, and cards.
There has been a bookshop on the High Street for many years. When I took over the shop from Ronald Timms in 2014, I had no idea how a bookshop worked; fortunately the staff (all friends or family) did! Since then, through their hard work, the business has been transformed. Not only does the shop look very different but we are online, more community focussed and our second-hand book section rejuvenated.
For books we don't have much choice of supplier; it's the wholesaler or direct from publisher. For other things, like cards, we use suppliers who don't wrap everything in plastic and look for local sources.
We have two full-time staff plus five part-timers. All are local. And all far more capable than me at making the shop work, so delegation is not an issue!
Most customers understand that we can't usually compete with online giants on price but value the friendly service, book-chat, recommendations, book club, free next day ordering, stickers for children, smell of real books, browsing, serendipitous book finds, second-hand bargains, visits by school children, judging of poetry competitions, Andy's comfy armchair, weekly top-ten best sellers, pay-it-forward scheme, creative window displays….
Yes. We rely on return customers. Many we know by name. Some buy us cake from Hemingways - we love them (thanks Victor!).
Our Shopify-based website (www.haslemerebookshop.co.uk) was developed as a response to closure of the shop during Covid lockdown. Sometimes it's difficult to bend Shopify to meet the needs of a bookshop (thanks Emily!) but online selling is an important adjunct to the bricks-and-mortar shop and allows us to support school and local author events (e.g. Julia Donaldson!) with dedicated web pages.
We are active on social media, particularly Instagram, but personal recommendations and references by our customers along with eye-catching window displays are probably the most important ways of spreading awareness.
Surviving Amazon and Lockdown. Sales have now back to pre-Covid levels but it's been a long haul.
We're doing more with local schools, supporting author events and book fairs, and I'd very much like to build on that.
Coffee and a cinnamon bun at regular intervals.
BRINGING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER THROUGH THE STRENGTH AND POWER OF VOLUNTEERING
Community Interest Company (number 13424641)
Email us on
info@thisishaslemere.co.uk
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