Oldest bookseller to close stores

Glasgow - The competitive ravages of multinational superstores and the Internet has taken its toll on the world's oldest bookseller…

Glasgow - The competitive ravages of multinational superstores and the Internet has taken its toll on the world's oldest bookseller. Within a whisker of its 250th anniversary, John Smith & Son is to close its two bookstores in Glasgow.

Since it was founded in 1751, John Smith & Son has become the world's longest continuously trading bookseller. The Cambridge University Press is older, but it has changed hands and closed down on occasion.