Staycation visitors are helping bookshops turn the page on a poor year for retailers as they seek to recover from lockdown.
Shops in the north and north-east say their return to trading has been helped by UK holidaymakers, including those visiting the area for the first time and who are keen to support local businesses.
The Booksellers Association is promoting Bookshop Day today (Sat), aimed at encouraging support for high street retailers during the pandemic.
Emma Bradshaw, the association’s head of campaigns, said: “We’ve spoken to hundreds of bookshops over the past six months who’ve been blown away by the support from their customers, and we know they’ll need that support now more than ever, as bookshops continue to face the full force of the immense challenges to the high street.”
Bill Anderson, who runs the Highflight bookshop in Dingwall, supports the initiative: “This year it’s very much about saying we’re open for business. A bookshop is like an island at the moment, you can come in and get back to some sort of normal.”
Mr Anderson re-opened six weeks ago after closing in March: “Business fell off a cliff for a few months. Custom was stop-go for the first 2-3 weeks when we returned, but last month was great. My usual customers are back and I’ve had new visitors this year with all the staycation people.
“Some people are finding me for the first time as they explore places further afield rather than just Inverness.
“I’m getting a whole range of people, from grannies to grandchildren. I’m selling books I wouldn’t normally sell, like text books and classics. People are re-reading the classics or reading them for the first time as it’s something they’ve always wanted to do – I’ve had 3-4 people asking for War and Peace.”
Donald Matheson, managing director of Baltic Books, Stornoway, said turnover is down 67% on previous years: “Overall, it’s been down financially on a regular summer, but it’s been steady recently. It certainly has been busier than I thought it would be, it could have been so much worse.
“We’ve had a lot of visitors this year who have been staying at home for holiday. One thing I have noticed is that people are saying they are trying to shop locally more than they have done, rather than going online, which is very positive.”
Bryn Wayte, who owns Deeside Books in Ballater with wife Marilyn, has also noticed a change in visitors: “We are not seeing any foreign visitors, or very few, and because of that our selling pattern has changed. We are predominately visited by English and Scottish tourists.
“I’ve noticed a big shift towards outdoor activities so people are buying things like maps and guide books a lot more.
“We had a very slow start, and it picked up only after the English holidays. But overall it’s not been too bad, I can’t complain in the current situation. We are better off than those in larger towns and cities where they have had less footfall because of a lack of office workers.”
Charles Leakey, of Leakey’s Bookshop Inverness, added: “I’m not dissatisfied. Trade is well down on last year as we were missing huge chunks of the traditional tourist contingent and that’s translated into less sales.
“But it could be a lot worse. The lack of business from abroad has been offset by more visits from the UK.”
He said he hopes more people are turning to books: “There has been lots of talk about digital media platforms having largely increased their trade during lockdown, but I think the printed book and reading have held up well.”