Guest Blogger: Simon Key of The Wood Green Bookshop

When my manager Tim West and I took redundancy from the Waterstone’s in Wood Green, it was a no brainer really. The obvious thing to do was staring us in the face. Open our own bookshop in the very area we had enjoyed success until the closure.                                                   
We teamed up in January, when I moved from the Waterstone’s in Oxford Street (no, not the big one that’s also closed down, but the small, busy one near Tottenham Court Road), to be Tim’s assistant manager in Wood Green. Right from the start we hit it off, and by the end of my first month there we beat budget for the first time in (insert long period of time here). A coincidence, perhaps, but that was followed by six more coincidences in the next seven months. The shop was doing great, the staff were excited by what was happening, and our fantastic customers appreciated what we were trying to achieve. The shop was going places, and I personally loved Wood Green. So much so, that I persuaded my girlfriend that this was the place to buy our first flat. We moved in 5 weeks before we were told the shop was shutting.     

We’re at the early stages of planning, and you can follow it on our blog http://woodgreenbookshop.blogspot.com/. What we will have when we open will be a great independent bookshop, in which every decision we make will be based on the local community. From the name of the shop, which will be decided in a competition we’re sending out to all the local schools, to the shop fittings which will be sourced from Haringey. We’ve had a huge amount of support from the local government, and the petition to save the branch , and the general feeling of disappointment that was felt in Wood Green at the decision, has made us more determined than ever to get the shop ready as soon as possible. We have 3 business models, dependent on the size of premises we acquire, our business plan will be completed next week, and we have a very good accountant.    

So this ‘guest-spot’ message is  hopefully going to be useful in a couple of ways. Firstly, it will perhaps encourage those people in the book trade, who understand what the real point of bookselling is. To educate, to nurture, to inspire, to surprise. When you close a bookshop in an area like Wood Green you risk damaging the whole community. Bookshops, unlike, say, clothes shops or pound shops, have a responsibility to the community they’re in and Tim and I understand how important this is.

Secondly, we are both shameless, and so offers of advice, encouragement and money are all most welcome. We’ve already had investment offered to us, although obviously the less we have to borrow from the bank the better. So don’t be shy. This is going to be a very special bookshop, wouldn’t it be great to be a part of it?

Comments

[tim relf]

Can't offer you advice or money, I'm afraid Simon (I've never run a bookshop and I'm skint!) but I would like to offer some encouragement. Good luck, it sounds brilliant.
And how refreshing to hear such a positive perspective. I worry sometimes that we're all prone to bouts of negativity and cynicism in the book business. It's fantastic to hear such enthusiasm.

[Jane WJ]

Good luck! Can't offer money either but would love to come and visit the shop when it's open.
Sounds fantastic!
janex

[Clive Keeble]

Simon and Tim, good luck.

I would suggest that you both spend a considerable time this weekend at CIANA fair - Business Design Centre Islington. Learn about the secondary market within the trade : see just how quickly mainstream publishers are prepared to dump quality hardbacks etc ; learn the difference between overstocks, remainders, and promotional reprints.

Try and ensure that your potential shop premises rental is beneath SBRR ceiling.

Make enquiries to find out about adjoining tenants, above and next door, are they are a natural fit with your bookshop - you don't want ghetto blasters playing music through the walls or ceiling during trading hours.

Spend at least several hours in a potential shop just looking out at the passers-by : bag watch them, see what they are carrying. Even in a small neighbourhood their is considerable difference between main street and side street shoppers. Shoppers nowadays hate walking too far away from the centre.

Use a local *commercial* solicitor who comes with strong recommendation from local indie traders. Solicitors fees vary considerably. Remember your lease is your security of tenure.

Be wary of signing a full repairing and insuring lease without getting the premises throughly checked over by a friendly surveyor.

When it comes to signing up on a lease try and get a rent-free period - especially if the premises have been empty for any time. *The rent free period should be written up in your lease to kick in from lease signing date and not a set date since lease drafting often is a very lengthy process*

With the lease you will probably be required to pay the landlord's legal fees : make sure that your solicitor caps these, or you might find that you are paying Lincolns Inn fees to a junior.

Try and avoid paying a quarter's rental deposit : since your business is a start-up a landlord might demand this.

Ensure that rent-review is only every 5 years (its now the norm to upwards only) : get a break clause written into the lease so that you can walk if it all goes pear-shpaed (it won't but on a new venture it is best to have some security).

Speak to as many London indie bookshop proprietors as possible : find out where they had hitches.

Speaking personally, I hate start-ups which get funding : most funded starts up fail because the trader is not hungry and thinks that they will always get bailed out. Local councillors and MP's can open doors but they seldom are as receptive to people who think that they should get funding when so many sectors of our community are marginalised.

[Catheryn Kilgarriff]

Great news that there will be a good bookshop in Wood Green - if you need start up stock with a decent discount, do contact us at Marion Boyars Publishers as we'd be delighted to help.

Catheryn

[adele geras]

If you can pull in a class or so from the local school, I'll happily come and chat to them. Cleopatra, my glossy, jewelled-cover, lavish picture book for youngish children is out in October from Kingfisher. A good Christmas book I reckon. Kingfisher may even be willing to pay my expenses etc and perhaps combine with a trip to the Children's bookshop at Muswell Hill....I will get on to them if you're interested. Good luck for the shop. Sounds brilliant.

[John Howard]

Start positive and stay positive and you will prevail.
Would you like 50 free signed copies of The Key to Chintak? If so, drop me a mail via the book's website www.zamorian.com when you are up and running and I'll send them on. I know what it's like to plunge into a start-up (take one tin of mixed emotions, stir in a lump of trepidation and a slug of adrenalin!) so free books is the least I can do to help. I expect if you ask Scott nicely he might also throw a few in! Good Luck.

[Mark Searle]

Good luck. I'm not a bookseller, so can't advise on that score, but I am a potential customer. Remember that those of us who grew up in Wood Green have a lot of affection for the area. Get yourself a decent online ordering system like a Google Checkout or similar and use some of the goodwill from people (like me) who can't regularly visit the shop in person.

[William Rycroft]

So pleased to hear what you're doing. After the closure of the independent bookshop in Palmer's Green as well I was beginning to worry. I have no money or advice as such except that it's always good to highlight local authors, speak to customers about what they read as it can highlight some great books that may not be obvious stock and get those kids involved. After all as Whitney once sang ' I believe the children are the future...'
Best of luck guys.

[themanwhofellasleep]

Welcome to Wood Green. I went travelling for two months and found that Waterstones AND Kebab Delight had both closed. The horror. Good luck. Explore Mr Bagels and the Jolly Anglers.

[Lynda Prior]

Great to hear such enthusiasm in this cynical trade. Not only that you have free books offered to you! Maybe you should try that as a new approach, just phone up the publishers and say, 'can I have some samples please... about 3000 will do!' You never know
:-)

[Danny Rhodes]

Good luck! Don't forget to support independent publishers when you open!

[Danny Rhodes]

Free books from me too if you're interested...though nowhere near 50!

[The Bookseller to the Stars]

Simon, you know I think you fucking rock. It was great to hear all about your plans in person the other day. A slew of authors (many that were within the first 50 to sign your petition, along with me) are just waiting, itching to come and do events.

We all love it when a plan comes together. There are going to be a lot of noses put out of joint when this is a spectacular success and my loins will just be bursting with desire.

xx

[SUSAN HILL]

Great stuff and please e-mail me about Long Barn Books stock... we can certainly give you the best discount possible and then there are some overstocks... you don`t have to take more than a few but every little helps. sales@longbarnbooks.com

[themanwhofellasleep]

I just saw the article on you guys in the Muswell Hill Journal: http://www.muswellhilljournal24.co.uk/content/haringey/muswellhilljournal/news/story.aspx?brand=HCEJOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsmhj&itemid=WeED12%20Sep%202007%2011%3A42%3A00%3A103

Well done.

[SUSAN HILL]

I forgot to say - the overstocks come free !

As a fellow businessman, Simon, I'm reading your blogg with great interest. Firstly because I love to hear about people starting from scratch and giving it a go. Done it myself ten years ago in construction and I'm still plodding away making a few quid.

Secondly, because I could see an opportunity. A 'scratch mine and I'll scratch yours' situation. Last year I signed a three book deal with paperbooks (an up and coming independent) and my first effort is out in February. Pride of place in your shop...free copies...signings (i'll travel all the way from mighty Newcastle)...I'm not sure what the deal is, but if you read the book first and believe in it, I'm up for throwing a few quid your way for the priveldge of some backing. Worth discussing?

[Kate Allan]

Good luck with the new venture! I'll make sure to mention you on my blog and help spread the word. Let me know if you'd like the Regency Authors to visit (I have a costume).

[Simon Key]

To Everybody. Thank you all for the encouragement. This has been a very positive 48 hours for us. Clive, thanks, I've taken all your points into consideration. Catheryn, i'll be in touch. Adele, John, Danny, great, we really want a strong events programme to suit our customers, (I enjoyed Asboville by the way!). Mark, you truly are a star amongst stars. Susan, thanks again, and thanks for adding us as a link on your blog. Kate, I've discovered your blog from this and it's another to add to our faves, and anonymous from Newcastle with a 3 book deal...keep in touch, and don't be anonymous!

[Gary Davison]

Mr anonymous! How thick! Gary Davison, please to meet you, Simon. You can find my blog at paperbooks.co.uk Keep in touch and I'm sure there's something there for us to discuss. How long before you're up and running?

[ncoded]

id advise that you use an opensource e-commerce system to setup the e-bookshop. we use oscommerce which isnt the best (see magento) but is fairly simple for a php coder to customise to your requirements.

you can see a good example of an e-store here www.homestansted.co.uk

or, if you wanted to use Joomla (virtual-mart ecommerce plugin), you can see an example here https://www.earlydoorsltd.com