News: retail

Indie booksellers invited to complete 2020 Christmas trading survey

Indie bookshops in the UK and Ireland are invited to complete The Bookseller’s annual Christmas trading survey. Read more

More bookshops to close doors as further areas enter Tier 4

More areas in England will be added to Tier 4 from Boxing Day, with non-essential shops closing their doors, the government has announced. Read more

Halls heralds 'remarkable' Christmas business and thanks trade for support

Booksellers Association managing director Meryl Halls has heralded “remarkable” Christmas trading for the sector as she thanked the trade for its “invaluable” support this year.... Read more

Bloomsbury cooks up Holland & Barrett partnership for Fearnley-Whittingstall campaign

Bloomsbury is partnering with Holland & Barrett as part of the marketing campaign for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Eat Better Forever: 7 Ways to Transform Your Diet.... Read more

Dismay for bookshops as Tier 4 forces pre-Christmas closures

Bookshops in London and the south-east have reacted with dismay after being forced to close their physical premises from end of play on Saturday (19th December), with just... Read more

Welsh bookshops to close from Christmas Eve in new lockdown

Non-essential shops will be closed in Wales from the end of Christmas Eve trading as part of fresh lockdown restrictions, it has been announced.... Read more

London's Tier Three 'may affect some sales but book-buyers will still shop local'

London booksellers have expressed confidence customers will continue to “shop local” and support bookshops, in spite of unease caused by news that the capital will be... Read more

Bookshop website makes £500,000 for indies

Indie-focused retail site Bookshop.org has now made more than £500,000 for stores in just over a month since its launch. Read more

Booksellers bolstered by record sales after lockdown

Bookshops have reported a pre-Christmas bonanza in the days since England's lockdown ended, with some seeing record sales. Read more

Octopus unveils guerrilla campaign for Women Don’t Owe You Pretty

Octopus is rolling out a guerilla marketing campaign for Women Don’t Owe You Pretty, as the debut feminist memoir's sales exceed 100,000 copies through UK Bookscan in its first six... Read more

Government's new flexibility on opening hours meets mixed reaction from booksellers

Blackwell's has welcomed new government provisions allowing shops to trade for longer hours in the run-up to Christmas, revealing it is considering opening for longer at weekends. ... Read more

Mackay joins AwesomeBooks

Simon Mackay, formerly of Edinburgh Book Festival and W H Smith, is joining Oxfordshire-based AwesomeBooks in the newly created role of head of books.... Read more

Mostly Books podcast to return in new year after publisher support

Mostly Books has lined up a second series of its podcast, featuring a host of authors talking about their favourite books. Read more

Bookshops delighted with December reopening

So-called "non-essential" retailers, which include bookshops, will be allowed to reopen when England's lockdown ends on 2nd December, Boris Johnson has announced. Read more

Lockdown drives 'explosive' online sales across formats, says BookStat's Abbassi

The past six months have seen “explosive” online sales with print books up by 45%, e-books by 30% and audio increasing 28%, according to figures... Read more