March 01, 2017 at 01:40PM
The bookstore may be a chain, but it’s a good one. In places like Whitstable, my home, the fetishisation of independent businesses can make life more difficult
If you think Waterstones dropping the apostrophe from its name is the worst thing the bookstore chain has ever done, think again. In an era when authenticity has been used to sell everything from pasta sauce in a jar to Donald Trump, the news that the firm has quietly opened three small, unbranded bookshops – in the picturesque towns of Southwold, Rye and Harpenden – has been greeted with dismay. Yes, these three shops look remarkably like independent booksellers, with their pale blue store fronts and dainty signage – but surely what makes the betrayal worse is that they remained under the radar for so long. Southwold Books opened in 2014, the Rye Bookshop a year later, and Harpenden Books in April last year. Or so it seems.
Strangely, locals seemed to be perfectly aware that the bookshops were owned by another company. Last year the Herts Advertiser reported that Harpenden Books was “run by Waterstones” and quoted the company’s managing director, James Daunt, who said he was “delighted to bring a proper bookshop back to Harpenden”. It’s a similar story in Southwold and Rye.
Continue reading...
No comments:
Post a Comment