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Edinburgh-based photographic bookshop Beyond Words is shutting down blaming a gradual erosion of sales and an increase in rents and other costs. The owners will continue to sell books via the Beyond Words website and phone ordering.
The shop's final day is earmarked for the middle of July. The company has been running since 1998. A closing-down sale has already begun. On its website, it states: "Unfortunately the book marketplace has changed enormously during that time and our sales have been on a gradual downward slope for some years while rent, rates and other costs have increased."
Owner Neil McIlwraith said: "The bookselling world has been transformed in recent years and many businesses have been forced to close.
"I’m proud that we’ve been able to provide a specialist service to photography enthusiasts and to the general book-buying public over twelve years. Now I want to focus on the future and find ways of continuing to provide a service to customers, old and new."
Photographer and photobook enthusiast Adrian Hollister said: "It is a real shame the bookshop is closing. In my experience Beyond Words was the only photographic bookshop in the country worth going to, and I rarely came out without having spent at least £50.
"There is something special about the tactile sensation of handling books, feeling the quality, and the smell of the paper that applied particularly to the quality of books found in Beyond Words."
A monthly online e-newsletter will continue to be published. Any customer wishing to be added to Beyond Words’ emailing list should contact the shop or email info@beyondwords.co.uk.