20
BRICKS & MORTAR NEWS & COMMENT
13.05.16
www.thebookseller.com
Hybrid booksellers on the increase BY NATASHA ONWUEMEZI
An increase in sales of print books, a growing disaffection with e-tailers and the burgeoning trend of “enhanced” bookshops has led many trade figures to branch out into running bricks-and-mortar stores, with the synergy between the seemingly disparate sides of the business not to be understated. Book sales rep David
Segrue, who launched independent sales company D J Segrue in 2008, is to open Segrue Books with his wife Amanda later this month. He said he had used his experience in the trade to observe “what works and what fails” and,
together with a “marked improvement in book sales”, believes he can create the “perfect environment for a bookshop”. Segrue added his day job as a rep gave him a “really good insight into the ups and downs of bookselling”, while the new bookshop would “help him to see the trade from the other side”. He added: “I think booksellers will be really interested to see how a book rep will build a shop.” Cottoning on to the trend
of “enhanced” bookshops which offer services such as cafés and wine bars to complement the retail side of the business, Segrue said this “interesting development” had led to
the general improvement of physical bookstores. Segrue Books will have a café serving Monmouth Coffee, along with tea and locally-sourced, home- made cakes. Likewise, Ink@84, which was opened in December last year by author Betsy
Tobin and artist Tessa Shaw, includes a café and bar and hosts author events. Tobin and Shaw opened the Islington-based bookshop because they noticed there was an absence of independent bookshops in the area and they “wanted to make a positive
BOOKSHOP BESTSELLERS
10 TOP
5 BOOKSELLER
CHOICES JUNE
MARILYN BROCKLEHURST NORFOLK CHILDREN’S
BOOK CENTRE PROPRIETOR
Norfolk Children’s Book Centre, Alby, Norwich, Norfolk NR11 7HB
September titles should be sent to the panel by 17th June Bl f h S 1
Battle of the Somme to life through the experience of two brothers. Suitable for older teenagers.
l INDEPENDENT POS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 TITLE BBC Proms 2016
The Road to Little Dribbling Sweet Caress
The Girl on the Train The Running Hare The Shepherd’s Life My Brilliant Friend
All the Light We Cannot See The Loney
The Improbability of Love Week ending 7th May 2016
contribution to Islington cultural life”. For Shaw, the timing was opportune, as 2016 saw what she called the “flatlining” of digital book sales and consumers becoming “disenchanted” with Amazon, realising “that what they had gained in
AUTHOR -
Bryson, Bill
Boyd, William Hawkins, Paula
Lewis-Stempel, John Rebanks, James Ferrante, Elena Doerr, Anthony
IMPRINT BBC
Black Swan Bloomsbury Black Swan Doubleday Penguin
Europa Editions Fourth Estate
Hurley, Andrew Michael John Murray Rothschild, Hannah
Bloomsbury
2
PAUL DOWSWELL WAVE Barrington Stoke, £6.99, 9781781125625 Not for the faint-hearted, this devastating story brings the horror of the first wave of the
JEANNIE BAKER CIRCLE Walker, £11.99, 9781406338010
This breathtaking picture book describes the winter migration of Godwits from Alaska to Australia and New Zealand. A deceptively simple text is enhanced by beautiful collage illustrations, and together they provide a clear message about the fragility of our planet.
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