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Snow has hit independent booksellers up and down the country, with some claiming sales are down by as much as half
Despite the conditions, all the bookshops spoken to by The Bookseller managed to stay open throughout the cold snap. But many found footfall was significantly affected, cutting short the post-Christmas boost to sales.
Guy Cooper, manager at Scarthin Bookshop in Derbyshire, said: "It’s been pretty bad. Takings were down by at least 50%. We’re on a side road and the council hasn’t bothered to grit it."
However, Cooper said it was still worth opening the shop. "Even on the worst day, when there was heavy snow all day, we still took over £100," he added.
Sheridan Swinson at Aardvark Books in Shropshire found his pensioner customer base was not willing to brave the snow and ice to reach him. "If the news is saying 'only make essential journeys' they won’t come out to us," he said. "This is one of the times when being on a high street in Chiswick would have been good."
Keith Smith at Warwick Books described the impact as "very bad," for one branch, but his other outlet, based in a shopping centre, faired better with takings up 2-3%.
For some, snow also reduced Christmas sales. John Hudson at Fordingbridge Books in Hampshire said: "We had the first snow in the week before the week before Christmas – so we had the worst possible weather for the busiest five days of the year. We were five percent down on last year in December because of it."
Please send your snow pics to graeme.neill">mailto:graeme.neill@bookseller.co.uk?">graeme.neill@bookseller.co.uk.