Independent Bookseller of the Month: The Wivenhoe Bookshop, Essex
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 it’s the turn of the Wivenhoe Bookshop, near Colchester in Essex.
The Wivenhoe Bookshop has been in business for 34 years. Owned by Ginny Waters and run with the indispensable help of Sue Finn, Helen Lee and Laurie Bussis.
We have recently developed a snazzy new website and have our own Twitter and Facebook page.
We are renowned for our great book launch parties, our amazing window displays which get the whole town talking, our philosophy breakfasts, our huge reading group, our Woolly Thoughts group, creative writing group and scrabble group, and our general function of Information Bureau to all visitors.
Introduce yourselves
Ginny started in bookselling in 1968 working in Dillons University Bookshop in London when Dillons only had one shop!
Sue juggles her busy life with work at the Bookshop and three children, she has become our digital whizzkid, organising our computer presence and keeping us at technology’s cutting edge.
Since Helen has been working with us, her artistic talents have totally transformed our window displays and her fabulous cakes and organisational abilities have created Woolly Thoughts, one of our most popular groups.
Laurie has brought an exotic element to the shop as she hails from New York and has spent many years in California. She is also an expert gardener and, much to Ginny’s delight, has taken on the arduous task of paying the bills!
Are there any specialisations, enthusiasms or interests you and your staff have that are reflected in the shop’s stock?
We seem to be on a similar wavelength to most of our customers and thus we are able to reflect their tastes pretty well. We sell a huge amount of the kinds of books that we are interested in ourselves, such as literary fiction, biography, popular science, and children’s books. Being a sailing town on the Colne estuary we also specialise in books about the sea and all things nautical. Sue is especially keen on crime fiction and we have many customers to whom she has introduced a new detective series that they have become hooked on.
Do you work with local authors, hold regular events and readings etc?
We have many talented artists living and working in Wivenhoe including poets and authors and we also have our own small publishing company, so book launches are a frequent occurrence. In May we launched Flipnosis by Kevin Dutton and in June Ode to Joy by John Harker.
In March Alexander McCall Smith, who is a friend of Helen’s, took time out of his busy schedule to pop in and spend time with our Woolly Thoughts Group and to sign copies of his books for excited customers.
Every year we have a “Big Read” when we try and get the whole town to read the same book. Last year we chose The Great Gatsby and we held a series of events culminating in a 1920s Ball.
What are you reading at the moment?
Ginny is reading The Leopard by Lampedusa which is our next reading group book. It is a fascinating study of a Sicilian nobleman whose life is changed fundamentally by the political upheaval which led to the unification of Italy in the nineteenth century.
Helen is reading One Day by David Nicholls which Ginny read on holiday and really loved.
Sue is reading The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness which she bought for her children to read on holiday and got stuck into herself!
What are your criteria for any book promotions (e.g.3 for 2, window placements, etc.) you may run?
We promote books we feel passionate about by talking about them to our customers and featuring them in our newsletters and on our website.
What makes your shop THE shop to visit when in town on a book-buying mission?
We have a fascinatingly diverse selection of books which we are happy to talk about, we have a small gallery, we play good music, we have the best greetings cards for miles around, and we have a very comfy sofa!
