another piece intended for publication that never quite made it. because i missed the boat on talking about independent bookshops rather than because i’m rubbish. apparently.

On a well-known London literary street two competing bookshops sit opposite each other. One is a large, well established independent; the other a branch of a large chain. Loyal to independents I made that my first port of all when I found myself in London recently. The shop had a great selection, with some highly specialised niche subject areas and a large range of fiction, magazines and gifts.

But this mythical place, a large independent bookshop that’s managed to weather the economy for over 100 years, was actually a bit of a disappointment. The atmosphere was kind of flat, (perhaps because there weren’t that many customers) the staff I spoke to were brusque bordering on scary and the café was tiny and cramped. It goes without saying (doesn’t it?) that in an independent you expect to pay the cover price (with maybe a small discount on occasion) so I was surprised this one had a ‘3 for the price of 2’ table, but the selection was so anaemic and dated as to be worthless. And if you’re charging full price for everything, you have to give the customer something extra in terms of service, surely!

The only thing I really loved about the shop was the books, and I can get those anywhere, so I walked across the street to the chain store. What a different atmosphere! Buzzing with people, my only complaint is the queues were too long (including for the Ladies’ – London needs more loos!) The decent-sized café (OK, a Starbucks, but it was nice), great discounts, a wide and interesting range and cute and colourful concessions made the chain a much nicer experience.

It’s not the conclusion I wanted or expected to draw but I won’t be going back to the independent next time I’m in the capital. Book lovers are always being told that If we want our independents to survive we have to support them. But will they return the favour? If I’m going to be scowled at whilst buying books before i sit in a noisy and cramped café to ‘relax’, I’d rather support the chains.

And as I know of so few decent independent book shops, I don’t think I have much choice.