Our local independent bookshop, Lost in Fiction, closed its doors recently. I greeted the news with very mixed emotions.
Independent bookshops are becoming increasingly rare and it hurts every time one of them closes. The closing-down of LiF also reflects that rents and commercial property prices in the Glasgow West End are spinning out of control. An entire block on Byres Road, our main shopping street, now consists of closed shop fronts. People are taking bets on which shop is next to go.
On the other hand, Lost in Fiction was a really crap bookshop. I say this both as someone with extensive experience within the book business and as someone who should’ve been LiF’s target audience. LiF was essentially a bookshop for people who don’t like books very much. Its stock was curiously bland and resembled a slightly dated airport bookshop: pastel-coloured chick-lit and cheap thrills dominated with a few super-hyped literary novels from yesteryear scattered on the shelves. If LiF had an editorial profile beyond “bland mainstream”, it was well-hidden. I think this lack of personality, this lack of editorial edge, was its downfall. Tellingly I visited the shop a few times and never bought anything.
As the West End already has several excellent secondhand booksellers, the idea of an independent bookshop is not a stupid one. I think you’d need a strong editorial profile and possibly even a specialised interest (such as hard SF or GLBT literature), but above all other things the owner of the bookshop would need to know books and the book business.
I’m already looking forward to the day when that bookshop opens.
In other news, my current knitting project, Pine, is going well. This’ll be my first bottom-up cardigan and while I’m not enjoying the tedious work on the body, the brioche stitches are making the knitting go quite fast. I’m horribly busy at the moment and my parents are visiting soon, so I do not anticipate seeing it finished just yet – but it is a semi-quick knit regardless. I have acquired (even more) vintage buttons which will look rather nice.
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… and extra sad that a rather great name for a bookstore got used on a less than stellar store, it seems.
July 9, 2009 @ 8:06 am
Pine is a gorgeous pattern. I’m so looking forward to seeing your version!
July 9, 2009 @ 9:59 am
@DK: Yes, I got all excited first time I saw it but sadly it didn’t like up to the name.
@Mooncalf: I should get around to snapping a photo, shouldn’t I?
July 10, 2009 @ 10:08 am
Like yourself Karie, I too have considerable experience in the book industry and considered myself among the target group for Lost in Fiction but, unlike you, had no mixed feelings about the bookshop closing. I was sad and disappointed as I’d found it a lovely, inspiring and highly original little bookshop. I think your comment about the dominance of ‘chick lit’ is grossly misrepresentative of what I felt was a careful and well rounded selection of books, despite the albeit limited space. I was especially encouraged to see a small selection of persephone titles and virago modern classics (perhaps you missed these?). The selection of books is of course paramount, but i too loved the brand and the lovely intimacy of the store (i enjoyed browsing the shelves on lazy sundays and sometimes even plonked myself and my dog on the floor – the staff only to happy to oblige me).
I always consider it sad when small independent businesses cease trading. And I would encourage you to put what i suspect is an element of bookish-snobbery aside (an attitude only too common in the industry!) and rather than relish in the opportunity to be critical, reflect on what a sad indication this is of how the book industry is suffering, especially our beloved independents who work hard to inspire people to return to books for pleasure and intellectual development. I, for one, had never encountered a bookshop before which was home to a teenage reading group – surely, something the owners of LiF should be commended for? LiF may not have been everyone’s cup of tea and we can all express our opinions on it, but you’d gain more respect by doing it with a little less ‘glee’! And, as for your claim about the bookstore lacking personality – I found it charming and with bags more personality than the godforsaken borders and waterstones of this world.
I wish the owners well.
July 10, 2009 @ 1:00 pm
just discovered your site- like the knitting!
“Lif was a bookshop for people who dont like books very much”.
As a regular customer of LiF I am quite offended by that! Now I don’t know where to buy my books. Certainly not amazon or any other souless trader. I will miss the bookshop. I had some good debates with the owner including a firey one about Irene Nemirovsky’s better work (david golder in my view).
They used to order some obsure titles for me and managed to track most down. Where else can i get that service now in the west end? Not the rotten bargain book shp. Or sleepy hyndland. Pah!
July 10, 2009 @ 1:57 pm
Where did my comment about the bookshop go? You’re presenting a very one sided case – no?
Is yours a site that promotes only views consistent with your own (narrow) perspective?
July 10, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
@katie/maude/katie: I’m more than happy to have a discussion – my first question would be why you share the same IP address?
(And katie/maude/katie, this is how the commenting system works: if you are a new commentator here at 4th Ed, I need to approve your comments before they appear.)
July 10, 2009 @ 6:41 pm
Hello Karie
Glad to see my comment has been reinstated!
Maude is a colleague of mine, a knitting enthusiast and a vocal supporter of independent booksellers, hence why I told her about your site on Friday – she had never previously visited it.
July 13, 2009 @ 9:50 am