Introduce yourself.

When the bottom fell out of the advertising industry in the late 1980s and my small ad agency was struggling, I started selling books and magazines around car boot fairs to make ends meet. I was 27 at the time, and had always intended to open a bookshop when I was about 50. Then a friend said, “Why not open your shop now?”.

I had very little stock so I ran a market stall to build up the business and, in 1989, opened my first indoor unit in the In-shops Shopping Centre in the small market town of Chester le Street, County Durham in the North East of England. (Chester le Street is more recently famous for the cricket – Durham County have their new ground here.) I opened my first lock-up shop on Ashfield Terrace in 1997 and moved to my present unit on Front Street in 1999 where I have been trading as The Bookcase ever since. Is it really 20 years?

Sadly, I don’t turnover enough to pay for staff, so I’m a sole trader here at The Bookcase. But I do have my happy volunteer, my mum Brenda Whitelock, who pops in every day to make sure I’m ok!

Regular customers often help out when I’m busy, and many pop and get me a sandwich for lunch or to the bank for change – life’s very laid back here in Chester le Street. I could probably wander off shopping somewhere and everyone would just serve themselves and put the cash in the till!

Are there any specialisations, enthusiasms or interests you have that are reflected in the shop’s stock?

The Bookcase is a general new bookshop, retro style – there aren’t many of us left, sadly. If I do specialise in anything, it must be local interest and local history: there are a lot of dying trades here in the North East and books by ex-miners and ship-builders and steel-workers go very well. At the moment I’m selling Coal in the Blood by Jack Hair and also The Dirty Thirty and Marching to the Fault Line about the 1984 miners’ strike and the death of industrial Britain (but then everyone knows that we’re all communist hippy weirdos up here!).

The Bookcase is a very small shop with a huge range of books in that I try to carry a small sample of stock in as many different categories as possible, and then order in from there. And with 24 hour supply from both of the big wholesalers, book orders are usually here the next day. My stock is therefore diverse with everything from stick-making to stick insects on the shelves. So basically, bookwise, I sell everything from a pin to an elephant – but you have to order the elephant.

I also sell on-line as BookBat and BookBatt…the Bat that sells books! I have been selling on other book sites, but have recently bought the domain name: bookbat.co.uk and will get the Bat up-and-running in the next couple of months when I’ve finished designing my website (I knew that degree in Computing and Systems Analysis would come in useful one day).

Do you work with local authors, hold regular events and readings, etc.?

I do hold lots of booksignings and author events!!

We recently had Independent Booksellers Week, 15th-22nd June, arranged by the Booksellers Association as a celebration of independent bookselling in the UK. The Bookcase had a wonderful time, with thriller writers pretending to be booksellers – Sheila Quigley was serving at the till (watch out for the launch of Sheila’s next thriller The Road to Hell on the 7th November!)

Nearly a hundred children flocked to the shop to meet world famous children’s author Terry Deary who was here on the Saturday to do a booksigning. He signed copies of his new series of novels and also lots of his “Horrible Histories” books.

On the Friday, Chris Mullin MP, author of A Very British Coup was here at The Bookcase signing copies of his Diaries: A View from the Foothills.

All in all it was a very enjoyable week. THANKS TO EVERYONE who gave up their valuable time to support me in these struggling days, when so many high street retailers and independent shops are closing their doors for good.
Special thanks to Sheila Quigley, Terry Deary, and Chris Mullin MP, and extra special thanks to Meryl and Sharon at The Booksellers Association, and to Jane at LloydsTSB for your continuing support and advice.

What are you reading at the moment?

I have just started reading the non-fiction novel Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon. I’m only up to chapter 3, but he writes such long chapters that I’m about a third of the way in. David Simon also created the television series The Wire, so I won’t have to tell you how brilliant it is!

The novel I read before that was The Grace Tattoo by Val McDermid, a thriller that bounces back and forth through time. I wasn’t sure if I would like it (I don’t like historical fiction, and to me Heathcliff was a sociopath and Cathy should have had nothing to do with him, and don’t get me started on Mister Darcy) but in spite of that I really liked The Grave Tattoo, it was reminiscent of A S Byatt’s Possession which I also enjoyed despite its historical theme.

What are your criteria for any book promotions (e.g. 3 for 2, window placements, etc.) you may run?

My promotions tend to reflect the discount I’m offered…and I’ll buy from supermarkets and Amazon and even other bookshops if I can get a better deal there for my customers. I also have occasional sales and clear everything that’s been sticking for a while or the BookBat hasn’t sold it on-line.

I often find and order rare and out-of-print books for customers and I charge £2.50 per book. Can’t wait to get the website up-and-running…I’ll be doing some great deals as the BookBat! Watch out for: www.bookbat.co.uk Yes! the Bat! is coming to a computer near you!!! [We'll let you know when this happens. Ed.]

What makes your shop THE shop to visit when in town on a book-buying mission?

The Bookcase is THE bookshop to visit in Chester le Street because it’s the ONLY bookshop in Chester le Street – you either buy it from the mad old bat at The Bookcase, or you try to pick it up at the supermarket (“sorry we don’t stock that anymore, we had it on display for 30 seconds last month, no don’t be silly, we don’t order books!”).

Or, you could waste 30 minutes of your valuable time, and risk getting your credit card cloned by buying it on-line and waiting 10 days for it to arrive only for it to be taken to the parcel depot in Consett 15 miles away ‘cos you were out… and have to give up your saturday morning golf to collect it… but hey! you saved 85p on the book price’.

My name is Eileen McKnight-Smith and I thank you for reading the ramblings of a BookBat.

You can visit Eileen at:

The Bookcase
135a Front Street
Chester le Street
Co Durham
DH3 3BL
Tel: 0191 388 4402

E-mail the shop at thebookcase@btconnect.com

Add your comment