UK Indie bookshops Christmas: the verdict
08.01.10 Victoria Gallagher reporting in The Bookseller

Independent bookshops have had a "healthy" Christmas with more than half of retailers reporting better sales than in 2008. The Bookseller carried out an online survey on festive trading for indies with 50 bookshops responding. Preliminary figures were released earlier this week, with final numbers showing that of the 50 respondents, 27 (54%) said sales were up in 2009, just 10 (20%) said sales were down and the remainder (26%) stated sales were about the same.

Indies reported increases of as much as 50%, though some saw sales dropping by up to 30%. Matthew Clarke of the Torbay Bookshop, Devon, said the shop had seen a "double-digit" percentage increase in turnover plus increased margin. "As with other towns the closure of Woolworths and our local department store left gaps in our high street," said Clarke. "This was seen as a great opportunity for us to pick up extra sales and new customers."

Others said that the closure of Borders affected­ sales both positively and negatively. Inga Sweetman of City Books, Hove, said: "We had the added problem (short term) of a ­Borders closing down sale in the town."

Over the festive season Foyles reported a "substantial increase in footfall". Marketing manager Julia Kingsford said: "The sad closure of Borders obviously had an impact as did a certain nervousness about the reliability of the post."

Eleanor Lowenthal of Pages bookshop in Hackney, north London, said she was "cautiously optimistic" about the coming year after seeing "healthy sales" in her second year of trading.

Many indies added they had been surprised by the loyalty of their customers. Hereward Corbett of the Yellow-Lighted Bookshop, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, said: "The customers just seemed to keep on coming . . . they seemed to be very happy to buy from us at full price when they could go down the road and buy the same books for half price or less. The chains are mad."

Just under half of the independents surveyed said that the adverse weather pre-Christmas had affected trading, with some indies saying the snow had driven people to shop online. Michael Amphlet of the Dedham Bookshop, Essex, said: "[There was] lots of snow, people didn't and couldn't get out and about."