Wednesday, November 11, 2015

'Experiential' Indie Bookshop to Open in London

Shelf Awareness

Rohan Silva and Sam Aldenton plan to open an 830-square-foot "experiential" independent bookshop on Brick Lane in east London in December. The Bookseller reported that the entrepreneurs "are the founders of Second Home, an old carpet factory off Brick Lane that the pair transformed into a £3 million [about $4.5 million] 'utopian workspace' for creative companies."

"Designed to attract Millennials," the bookshop "will house a bar, DJ turntables and an in-house printing press," the Bookseller wrote, adding that a recent job ad in the publication for a general manager "caused a stir on social media and resulted in 'hundreds' of applicants for the position, Silva said, when it called for 'a highly dynamic and bookish general manager to help create an interdisciplinary space that crosses books with booze with an in-house printing operation and DJ sets.' "

"This is a golden moment for bookshops," Silva said. "We are passionate about books and ideas, and beautiful physical books are such wonderful things to be exposed to.... We are thinking about the bookshop as an experience where you can see physical books being printed and bound, adding texture. These are the things a physical bookshop can do that Amazon can't."

The possibility exists that another location in a different city could open next year "if the venture is successful, with the potential to start a chain," the Bookseller wrot
e.

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