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Hang On In There Waterstone's!

Tony Horne wonders if we are about to experience the end of the chain bookstore on the British high street.

By Tony Horne

8 Sep 2011, 09:00

In January 2010, I attended a seminar hosted by The Society of Authors. I have no recollection what it was about except that several key players from Waterstone's were there in front of an audience of authors who looked like they had probably sold about twelve books between them. (Ouch, that will come back to haunt me, but that’s fine because I had only sold about twelve then too!).

I remember only one thing: Waterstone's were giving back local autonomy to local stores. Local managers would have a say. Good news for local authors. Borders, you may recall, had just gone tits up. On the way back, I had one conclusion: the concept of the high street bookstore was in the balance, sadly, and Waterstone's had looked at Borders and wondered if they were next.

When Borders came along, everyone thought it was brilliant. ‘Oh, you can have a coffee and read a book,’ people would say. ‘What a great way to spend the afternoon.’ When the Amazon thing came along I remember saying to these friends, ‘Are you a BISBOL?’ Yes, they would look at me like that too. Browse-in-store-buy-on-line.

In other words, spending the afternoon at Borders with a coffee and a book was great but then you had the chance to go home and get it cheaper on Amazon. No wonder, it went under. The punter suddenly got wise! I only mention this because of my genuine concern when news reached me that Waterstone's in the Metro Centre had closed just hours after the announcement that the “legendary” 3 for 2 offer was no more. Now, I am hearing that Waterstones has gone from Harrod's too.

To those of you yet to experience the cultural delight of Gateshead, this is rumoured to be Europe’s biggest shopping centre. Indeed, so the myth went, tourists from Scandinavia used to get the ferry over just to shop for the weekend. (I always thought this bullshit, but I’ll allow the PR dream to continue for the sake of argument).

The fact remains that if the colossus of the Metro Centre has no place for a Waterstones – or vice versa – then where the hell are we with the high street bookstore? Will there be none – bar WH Smith, which is a bit of a book shop and something else – two years from now?

It’s very worrying, and slightly sad, but it reminds me of Woolies. When that finally closed, grannies appeared on the news saying “Oh, it’s part of my life, I used to love going in there for a natter” and I would say “Yes, but did you buy anything?” You have to be concerned that if a Trafford Centre, a Lakeside, a Metro Centre etc can’t sustain a Waterstones, then the rest might be a pack of dominoes waiting to tumble. My sources tell me the rent was too high in the North East. I don’t know if that’s the truth. I suspect that is a smokescreen for a bigger picture.

People are still buying books. Of course they are. Lots of them. There was an excellent article in the Guardian last week by Lloyd Shepherd which is the best summary of the current climate I have read. I love the stuff on the much-cited “anecdotal evidence”. Goodness, if people are not buying, then my kids are going to starve, but here is my anecdotal evidence. My son wanted a Harry Hill joke book at Waterstone's in the Trafford Centre at the weekend.  It was around £6.49 or so. I could see immediately it was around half that on Amazon, so I walked out of the store. Much as I think a high street isn’t a high street without a bookshop, and my books were for sale in there too, who wouldn’t have done the same?

Do you think all this is now pointing to the belief that the electronic version is about to have its iPod moment, as the publishing cliché goes?
Well, that’s just speculation too, isn’t it? I don’t actually know anybody who has an e-reader. (That is not the cue for people to tell me they’ve had one for years.) I hang out with school run mums who take their book recommendations from Judy Finnigan rather than AA Gill. They buy at Christmas and for holiday.

I have had an I-river for a month. It has nothing on it except the freebies. If I’m honest, I’ve probably written more books than I’ve read.
Shocking, I know. I do have one little idea to get the whole iPod moment started, if indeed we are at its door. In radio, the dream demographic of the target audience is a thirty-something woman with kids, and with income. I don’t hear this focussed talk in the book world.
I’ve seen those ads on the TV for the Kindle. I can tell you now that they are all wrong. They are all about the price. There is nothing aspirational about the marketing.
 
If you quiz that same thirty-something woman craved by radio, she is too tired to read most of the time and likes a Sophie Kinsella or Wendy Holden for holiday. Ask her about any kind of e-reader, you will get only one comment back after a delayed response. ‘Well, if I bought one of those that’s four more pairs of shoes I could pack.’

There’s your dream, there’s your advert, there’s your next generation.

But hang on in there, Waterstone's. The concept of no bookstore at all is a very, very sad and depressing thought.