This Saturday is Bookshop Day — and if ever there was a moment to remind people why bookshops matter, it’s now. In an era of AI-powered recommendation engines, infinite online choices, and the pressure to “monetise your passion,” real, physical bookshops are more essential than ever.
The High Street is Squeezed — But Bookshops Buck the Trend – with some facts!
Despite the crisis on the high street, independent bookshops are holding steady. Even as more than 10,000 retail sites shut in 2023, the number of indie bookshops in the UK remained largely stable — and in fact, new ones continue to open. (Reference – University College London)
Research from the Institute of Place Management (2022) found that bookshops contribute far more than just retail: they help shape the identity of a town, support events and festivals, and boost footfall for neighbouring shops. (Reference – University College London)
Town centre and high street studies also show that bookshops encourage clustering: that is, when people come to visit a bookshop, they often also visit surrounding cafés, gift shops, cinemas, and other local businesses — reinforcing the local ecosystem. (Reference – Robert Gordon University+1)
In surveys, 77% of booksellers report contributing to 20+ priorities for successful high streets (from community, aesthetics, to collective marketing). (Reference – booksellers.org.uk)
In short: a bookshop is more than a shop. It’s a cultural anchor, a meeting place, a part of what gives a town its soul.
AI, Algorithms & the Hustle Culture Trap
We live in a world that says: turn your hobby into a business. Monetize. Scale. Algorithm-friendly content. But the cost is often loss of joy. Where once reading was a refuge, now every creative pursuit is twisted toward the next post, the next click, the next sell.
A bookshop resists that. We don’t algorithmically dictate what you should read—our staff recommend because they care. We don’t pressure you to buy immediately or tie you into subscriptions (well apart from the subcription boxes anyway). We offer space, time, choice, and human connection without the rushed push to be hustling every two minutes. Bookshops are a place to slow down.
The Book is Being Squeezed Everywhere
It’s not just online competition — even supermarkets are waging war. Big chains often sell books at a loss or heavily discounted, treating them as loss-leaders to draw shoppers in. This underpricing devalues books as a whole, and it forces independent shops either to absorb the losses or die by comparison. (Read this amazing article from the Guardian on the experience of one Journalist at Sainsburys The Guardian+1)
When the price of a “bargain” book is lower than what we paid wholesale, you begin to see how unfair the playing field has become.
Meanwhile, many remember the era of Borders — a sprawling, comfortable store that allowed browsing for hours, chatting with staff, discovering new authors, grabbing a café latte and an event. In many places, that kind of space is gone. Some blame Amazon, with its scale, its pricing power, its dominance in logistics and dispatch.
Amazon & the Billionaire Economy
I’m not saying boycott Amazon — it has its place. But we can make more informed choices. Here’s what’s at stake:
- Amazon’s growth has come hand-in-glove with the decline of high street retail.
- Amazon has been called out for tax avoidance, aggressive pricing, and stifling competition as well as poor practice with its staff.
- The Bookshops vs Billionaires movement and similar campaigns exist because the gap is not just commercial — it’s about power, values, and the kind of world we want.
- Meanwhile, Bezos is hiring out Venice for his wedding while people who work for Amazon struggle to pay bills with their low wages- doesn’t feel right does it?
When you support an indie shop, your money recirculates locally — it supports staff, makers, events, authors. It builds community, not an empire.
Local Businesses Make a Town
In Frodsham, we already have some gems: Cowards Butchers, Zucca Zucca café, shops like Dandelion and Fussy Cow. These are not just places to spend — they are places people care about. They shape local identity. If one store or café closes, it changes the entire character of the town.
When people say, “the town centre doesn’t feel the same,” that’s what they mean. The shop fronts, the conversations, the impromptu detours — when those are gone, life becomes more transactional and sanitized.
This Bookshop Day: Use It or Lose It
This Saturday, on Bookshop Day, our message is simple: Use it or lose it.
- Pop in, even if for five minutes for a chat if you can’t get to us checkout The Booksellers Association for a list of Bookshops you can visit – Booksellers Association – Bookshop Search
- Buy a book, a mystery box, a subscription, a gift voucher — even if you’d rather shop online – Gift Boxes – The Curious Cat Bookshop.
- Share your favourite indie shops with friends.
- Celebrate books and bookstores loudly, not quietly.
Because in a world full of clickbait, AI, and algorithmic feeds, a bookshop is one of the few places where chilled out vibes still lives. It’s where you might discover your next favourite story.
Help us to continue and not let this become a memory of retail’s golden age — let’s make sure bookshops remain central to our streets, our hearts, and our lives.
Happy Bookshop Day.
