E-readers may be convenient devices, strolling in a bookshop, flipping through the pages of a book and buying it is making a comeback, as Waterstones noticed last Christmas. All book retailers had to face the consequences of the new reading experience that followed the introduction of e-readers such as Kindle or Kobo. So they tried to adapt their product range and make their stores more appealing, with bars and cafés. Waterstones is not doing that bad, even if the market has changed a lot. In fact, the bookshop chain is planning new openings for the year to come, starting in London this October.
Tottenham Court Road will be Waterstones next location: a 7,000 sq ft store spread over three floors with a basement bar, a café and a list of 25,000 titles, making it the retailer's fourth largest store in London. Two or three more openings are planned in the capital over the next year, as well as 10 to 15 new locations across the country. Most of the Waterstones stores have already been renovated and more in-store bars are expected. As for the Tottenham Court Road new store, Waterstones has great hopes: “I expect the shop to be hugely profitable, it is expected to be one of our top 20 shops in the country” said Luke Taylor, London regional manager.
*Photo: waterstones.com
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