Waterstones opens 10 new stores a year as younger adults embrace reading

39 comments

1. That,s cool. But my existing shop never change there books displays in months. And i normally have to be aware of a book i want before going in.

2. I absolutely love the idea of physical books, and miss getting them when I was younger. The smell, flicking through, reading it page by page.

   But I’ve not bought one (other than a few specific signed copies) as e-readers are just so much easier for me. Being able to read in bed, light off, with the kindle in a mount and a page turner is just too nice.

   I do miss physical books though.

3. They dont ever bring new stock in at the one near me. There are books marked as being “New Release!” which came out almost a decade ago.

4. I can vouch this i fell out off reading in highschool now (20) ive fallen back into as a way to just completely disconnect from the sheer amount off shit thats happening in the world atm.

5. Embracing reading? Stuff like this gives me a bit of hope for the future.

6. It’s a shop I thought would struggle with online shopping, second hand places like world of books and obviously e-books taking up their market. However their stores tend to be a relatively nice place to be and I’ve always found they have pleasant staff.

7. I’m mid 20s and Waterstones is now one of my favourite stores. I’m after non-fiction books in travel, art, design, architecture and they always have a good range. They even had niche books I wanted out on their release day in store.

   I would say that most retailers seem to be embracing books though, like Selfridges and Harrods etc so I think it’s just a trendy market atm.

8. My local waterstones is great. Makes tons of effort with getting authors in for signings and talks, always gets new releases in & always busy!

9. Too expensive for me. I just buy used ones on eBay.

10. I had a holiday job at a Waterstones when I was an undergrad back in 1999-2002. One of the best and easiest jobs I’ve ever had but that 33% discount was so tempting!

11. Be interesting to know how many people are lapsed readers from their younger days versus people who get into reading as they become an adult. Listening to Amol Rajan’s podcast recently they were speaking about record low numbers of young people reading in school. Makes me wonder if it isn’t such concern if there is a sizeable number of people who take it up when they’re older.

12. Good. Had a Saturday job with them in my teens, loved it.

13. This is the most positive news story I’ve read for months.

    Seriously.

    If everyone read more books and less crap online, society wouldn’t be as fucked up as it is.

14. This is great news! I’m convinced the spread of e-readers has lead many to embrace proper books as objects of desire as much as a simple means of conveying words into people’s brains. In fact, it reminds me of when (old man alert here!) video tapes of films became available for rent and the cinema business which had been on its last legs came bouncing back with a vengeance.

15. As an LGBT adult I was just thinking that I grew up never enjoying rom-coms. Now I love there are so many in YA LGBT fiction. They feel so wholesome and there are so many. Many more than I feel in general LGBT adult fiction. YA leading the way…

16. This makes me so happy. Going into bookshops always brings me so much joy

17. This is great but who can afford to buy them in the Waterstones stores?

18. Great news, but don’t forget to shop at your smaller, local bookstores too!

19. Our waterstones has started doing a monthly board game club. They keep the café open, lots of games available to play, and any game you buy during the board game night is discounted. It’s very popular.

20. I love to hear it. Personally, wandering aimlessly around a book shop with a chai latte for an hour is my happy place. They are peaceful, they smell of books and you know there is a fantastic book in there, you just have to take your time to find it.

21. Waterstones and Argos, to me, epitomise the battle against e-retailers

    If they keep going as they are going they will never lose my custom.

    I’m a convenience-above-all guy, and even I will go to Waterstones instead of using Amazon, not least of all because they almost always have the books that I’m looking for.

    On Friday, I decided to buy a decently obscure condensed matter textbook for my Physics studies, and I was able to click and collect it two hours later from a Waterstones twenty minutes away. I feel it’s just proof positive that the best way to defeat e-retail is providing a better service than e-retail

22. My daughter is 2 and you need to fight her to take books off her. She’s never had a tablet or iPhone (Bar the times I’m about to shit myself and need a quick distraction)

    I’m going to start bring books with us when we go out. The amount babies that can barely keep their head up getting an iPad straight away is MENTAL.

    There’s no need for it! Kids love books.

23. I think as well, it’s better to just be able to go into a shop and see the thing you’re buying and make an informed decision. Whereas online it’s very anxious “oh what if the book is damaged, what if I have to wait in the house all day for a book, what if it gets left out by the deliveryman and stolen”.

    Also I’ve found that a lot of younger colleagues at work really seem to have taken to reading “fantasy” novels. They are all quite smutty, but hey, it’s a good thing regardless. If it gets people reading more then I think that’s good for society. And people going into book stores to buy more of these, they might also have their interest piqued by a literary classic in the process.

24. And 15 years ago people thought Kindles and iPads will make physical books obsolete

25. Physical books have been resigned to history’s footnote, you only have to walk into a Waterstones to see that evidence with your eyes, I visit 3 regularly and there always empty.

    There has to be a cash or tax incentive reason why their opening so many if in fact they are, I don’t trust the guardian at best of times.

    Its over a decade since I read a physical book, as audio is much easier for me.

26. Waterstones stores are especially good if you are looking for one specific book, much like the Fnac in most Western European countries. I don’t see myself staying there for long, though. The cleanness feels oppressing in a way.

    I personally prefer the thrill of finding gems through messy book piles in an independant bookshop than the soulless uniform shelving most big chains have. Bonus points if that bookshop is also a café.

27. Hopefully other bookstores are also improving. Waterstones is fine but it is essentially a monopoly on physical book sales in the UK. I’m sure there are books that Waterstones rejects that would be interesting to read.

28. Its interesting that for about 14 years it was owned by HMV and they sold it in 2012 because it was hemorrhaging money.

29. I think ‘younger adults’ are just more aware of digital purchasing practices. They know digital libraries can be paywalled or removed, but physical copies can’t.

30. The only thing I don’t like about waterstones is their prices. I find the same books much cheaper in other stores. But it is great for manga and special editions

31. Shame it’s foreign owned. Hoping the rumours about them floating the company turn out to be true

32. Books, CDs and DVDs should have remained our staples for entertainment. Owning physical

33. The one near me has a cafe which helps. But I gotta say I went to town yesterday, I went to Waterstones and it was packed. Although it might be partly down to no other books shop around anymore and the WHSmiths just went under. So I guess by default only one place to go. Still a good sign though.

34. Books and records not only *are* cool, they look cool and selves too.

35. A physical book is just a nice object, it’s a much nicer way of reading than even an ambient light reader (that you can take to the park in the sun like a real book).

    The problem is that you can only have so many books before storage starts to become a problem, and you’re paying £10+ for a one time read in most cases (though I do have some books that I love to read over and over, like we all have our re-watch film choices).

36. Cheltenham has two, and they’re almost opposite each other. 

37. That’s amazing news and the more we stop with this having digital everything life stile the better …the Americans are rubbing their hands the more we do away with personal belongings …fight back against the monopolies

38. I like books. I like reading. I have read a few dozen this year. 

    What I don’t like is waiting for books to arrive, going to buy them.

    The Amazon kindle subscription has saved me so much fucking money

39. Maybe society is healing a little

    Smartphone addiction surely has peaked? I cut back massively using my phone and the world is grim once you start noticing how much people spend on their phones or completely absent minded when you’re trying to interact with them and just get grunts back due to their phone

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