Independent Bookseller of the Month: The Gutter Bookshop, Dublin
Every month we feature a different bookshop – we ask them to tell us what makes them special and what they like most about what they do. This month we visit a brand new bookshop in the heart of Dublin’s fair city.
Please tell us when and why you set-up your bookshop
The Gutter Bookshop opened its doors on the 3rd November 2009 in Dublin’s Temple Bar area and is currently being nursed through its infancy by the owner, me – Bob Johnston, the store manager Ann Geraghty and a part-time bookseller Sinead Boyne. I’ve been bookselling for the past 20 years, working everywhere from small independents to the big chains, and for the last 15 years have been slowly working towards an independent of my own – and here we are! Ann has 13 years experience working for Waterstone’s and so between us we’ve got more book industry knowledge than we know what to do with. Sinead is new to bookselling but is a voracious reader who loves talking to people about books. The shop name comes from the famous Oscar Wilde quote “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” – it’s a positive reinforcement of who we are and where our ambitions lie.
Please introduce your staff
Bob is usually reading books, talking about books or selling books… or drinking beer in the pub. He’s also a typical Leo which isn’t very fair on the other staff but they’re getting used to it.
Ann was described as ‘elfin’ by Sinead though she’s tall for an elf at 5’6”. She loves cricket, which makes her a bit of a curiosity in Ireland and is addicted to tea. Her catchphrase would be ‘there is no grey when doing an audit!’
Sinead reads a lot of books and loves talking about them. Her favourite thing about being a bookseller is opening up the deliveries and seeing what’s inside. She has made it clear that she prefers it no-one else opens the boxes first.
Are there any specialisations, enthusiasms, interests you and your staff have that are reflected in the shop’s stock?
Ann keeps trying to get us to stock more cricket books but we’re resisting at the minute, but we’ve compromised on famous footballers for the time being. We’re working hard to reflect our customers’ interests and develop these areas – so far we’re going great guns on fiction, art, photography, drama and poetry (which is great because I didn’t think anyone bought poetry anymore!)
Do you work with local authors, hold regular events and readings etc.?
We want to make the shop an exciting and lively place and we really want to get the local communities involved. As soon as we’ve caught our breath from the opening we’ll be setting up a full events programme and letting our customers know. We’re aiming to have something going on every Thursday evening so that people get to know that they can drop in and participate in something literary and fun – at the moment we have a Reading Group, Poetry Nights, Creative Writing Nights and Kids’ Craft Saturdays lined-up but I’m sure there’s plenty more to come.
Photo credits: Marta Starosta
What are you reading at the moment?
Bob – The Help by Kathryn Stockett – her surname describes exactly what to do with this wonderfully written novel!
Ann – The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu – a cautionary tale of obsessive love and amateur heart surgery. Packed to the brim with inconsistencies for a tale set in the late 1800s but that’s part of its charm (if somewhat annoying if you tend to be ‘precise’ by nature!.
Sinead – Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris – a book about vampires set in the American South It’s great escapism and a bit different from the usual vampire fare, very witty and a good page-turner.
What are your criteria for any book promotions (e.g. 3 for 2, window placements etc.) you may run?
They have to be fun, focused on our customers’ interests and different than the chains – we can mirror our local community so we’ll be doing lots around cookery, crafts, art and design and poetry – they’re an eclectic lot our local community… We do have to keep an eye on the margin (we still have rent to pay) but it’s certainly not about discounting the books to make them as cheap as possible – that would obviously be a mad thing to do.
What makes your shop THE shop to visit when in town on a book-buying mission?
Well, according to our customers we are friendly, knowledgeable, different, interesting and we have a beautiful space (I think the latter applies to the bookshop itself rather than us personally). From our point of view – we love books, we love talking to people about the books we love, and we love selling people the books that we love. And as we develop we’ll be able to offer a really interesting choice that’s very different from the generic chain bookstores.
The Gutter Bookshop
Cow’s Lane
Temple Bar
Dublin
Ireland
Tel: +353 (0) 1 6799206
