Bookshop bravery: In these days of discount mania in chainstores, the rise of the e-reader and the prevalence of online retailing – all set against a background of recession – it's exciting to think that some intrepid souls have picked this moment to open new, small, independent bookshops.
“Brave – or mad?” says Bob Johnston, of The Gutter Bookshop, which opened on Cow’s Lane in the old part of Dublin’s Temple Bar last week, just down the street from the Queen of Tarts cafe.
The irony is that it was the economic crash which enabled Johnston to fulfil his dream of opening his own bookshop in the heart of the city. Finding a good location at the right price got easier as things imploded. “I couldn’t have done it in the boom era of exorbitant rents,” he says.
Johnston, originally from the UK, has been 20 years in the bookselling business in Ireland and England, 10 of them with Waterstone’s in London and Dublin. Most recently, he was fiction and children’s buyer for Hughes and Hughes.
In Cow’s Lane he has an eclectic range of shoppers, including local residents in the new apartments, office workers, and tourists. Saturday, when the designer market is in full swing right on his doorstep, is his busiest day.
“This is an area people spend leisure time in,” he says. “Browsing in a bookshop fits perfectly into that. We were concerned Sunday would be quiet, but that’s our busiest day after Saturday.”
In an era of quick staff turnover in chainstores, he puts a lot of emphasis on staff picks and recommendations of books he and his team have enjoyed. Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spinis his bestselling book so far. Ann Geraghty, a colleague from his previous bookselling days is in the venture with him and is the shop's manager.
And the curious name? It's Oscar Wilde, from Lady Windermeres Fan: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
Meanwhile, in southside Dublin, Anne Macdona and Gwen Allman opened their new bookshop, The Company of Books, in the heart of Ranelagh village on Monday. While running several bookclubs in their previous incarnation, the Blue Loft gallery in the area, they spotted a gap.
“There’s quite an arty scene in Ranelagh, with lots of cafes and the Ranelagh Arts Festival. There are lots of readers around here,” says Macdona, who has a background in editing and academia.
Allman, who comes from a management background, says that where the chains give you multiples, the independents give you a more individual experience. “It’s the love factor,” she says. “We’re finding out what people love, as opposed to the chains, who these days seem to just want to sell a batch of titles at all costs as part of a marketing strategy.”
At Company of Books, there's a mix. Dan Brown's The Lost Symboljostles with Hans Fallada's Alone in Berlin, and though the space is small there are strong travel and children's sections. In time, Macdona and Allman hope to have author events in the shop, which is at 96 Ranelagh. Far from being nervous about what some might think an intrepid step, Allman says: "I think a recession calls for courageous action. In many ways it's the best time to start a business – because things can only get better."
Most of all, though, in these two shops – both open seven days a week – there’s a sense that books matter in themselves , not just as retail products. Their opening in these bleak times is something to celebrate.
