Tuesday, 12 May 2020

Good news from Booka Bookshop

Brownhill House Garden - Succulents in a frying pan, so easy to bring in for the winter& as a garden table decoration in summer

Dear Blogger

Message from Booka Bookshop, Oswestry - if you are unable to read this message, please go to their website

www.bookabookshop.co.uk

Coronavirus (Covid-19) 

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Visit the Booka Bookshop website

Running a Bookshop in an Apocalypse

It sounds dramatic but this is how it feels.

After ten years building an award-winning bookshop and surviving the stresses, strains and financial responsibilities of running a small independent business – we felt secure in the knowledge that what we had created was a lifetime achievement; something we had moulded together as husband and wife and business partners – that in itself is something we are hugely proud of.

Our focus as a Bookseller has always been to provide a distinctive shopping experience - one you can't buy online. This was (and is) the key to surviving the decline of the High Street, that was until Covid 19 rendered 'experiential' bookselling obsolete – at least until 'normal life' returns, whenever that will be.

And so this is how it is:

The doors are closed, the machines turned off, the buzz extinguished. No longer do we have an enthusiastic, energetic team to bounce ideas off and interact with. Now it's just the two of us all alone in a shop full of books with no customers to help bring them to life. It all feels a little bit soulless. Drastically reduced book sales, no events, no book clubs, no café. It is a huge loss and one that has left us stunned with the shock of how quickly and brutally things have changed.

In the first few days we were in 'fight' mode – reinventing and reshaping our business everyday but our options became more and more limited as our supply chain struggled to cope. Both our wholesalers closed – although one re-opened providing a home delivery service and has now thankfully  started delivering to bookshops again. 

Our sales in April fell by 75%!

We are still going into the shop each week day, Monday to Friday 10 am to 2 pm, taking orders by telephone and email and processing/dispatching orders from our online shop. In the afternoon, we hit the road with our home delivery service. This is something we have come to look forward to, providing  a service to our local community.

Booka Online - Browse our Virtual Bookshelves

We've been working hard to get more of our book stock online, not just our signed copies. You can now browse our virtual bookshelves from the comfort and safety of your home. Hopefully you can find what you are looking for. If not, just contact us and we can order and arrange delivery straight to your door. We'll be adding more stock as new titles are published.

Have a browse: bookabookshop.co.uk

Booka is nothing without all of you – our wonderful customers, many of whom have become friends, supporters and valuable people in our lives.

Please keep supporting us – buy a book online, by email or by phoning the shop, engage with our virtual events as we seek to provide a book lifeline for you during lockdown.

Let's look to the future:

Our attention is now shifting, and we are refocusing to a time when we can restart and slowly begin to recover. With Boris Johnson's statement on Sunday 10th May, it looks as if we might possibly be in a position to be able to reopen at the beginning of June. We are taking all necessary steps to be ready to reopen when and if it is safe to do so.

Booka does not exist without you – you are our lifeblood and we value your custom and the personality you bring to our space. Your support has helped us build a bookshop for the town to be proud of. We will need you more than ever to help us recover.

We look forward to welcoming you back to Booka!

 

Need to stay at Home...
Need a Good Read?

We'll deliver to your door!

 

We are your book lifeline!

Every order we receive gives us a little boost!

You can place orders by:

Phone: 01691 662244 (Phoned manned week days between 10am-2pm) or leave a message
Email: hello@bookabookshop.co.uk
Social media: Twitter @bookabookshop Facebook @bookabookshop

If we don't have the books you're after in stock, we can easily order most titles, and get them to you.

If you have an enquiry, just contact us by any of the above means, we will be only too pleased to help.

Home Delivery - We'll deliver to your door!

We're offering FREE home delivery to customers within a 10-mile radius of the bookshop.

For those further afield, we'll post out for a small charge (£2.75).

 

Virtual Author Events 

Hopefully you will have seen that we've teamed up with three other indie bookshops (Linghams, Forum Books & Book-ish) to host a series of virtual author events via Facebook Live, connecting authors and readers.

You can access these events via the @HomeWith4Indies Facebook page. 

Coming up this month:
  • 11th May 8pm - At Home with Elizabeth MacNeal
  • 13th May 8pm - At Home with John Niven
  • 14th May 8pm - At Home with Dara McNulty
  • 20th May 8pm - At Home with Joe Wicks
  • 21st May 8pm - At Home with James Naughtie
Watch out for more events as they are announced. You can also watch those events you may have missed.
 

Booka News


Friends of Booka Facebook Group

We have set up a Friends of Booka Facebook Group in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is a space for ideas, community spirit and book recommendations. All our bookselling team are admins and will continue to be at your disposal throughout (and on the other side of) the crisis at hand.

Please do continue to place orders via the hello@bookabookshop email address or by phone on 01691 662244 rather than within the Facebook group


Watch out for more newsletters and further updates!

Stay safe, keep reading!

 
OPENING TIMES: MON-SAT 
SUN 
CALL: 01691 662244
EMAIL:  mail@bookabookshop.co.uk


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Booka Bookshop
Church St
Oswestry
Shropshire, England SY11 2SP
United Kingdom

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