The chain is said to be thriving with thanks to people embracing a certain hobby
20:48, 20 Aug 2025Updated 20:50, 20 Aug 2025
Shoppers walk by Waterstones in Birmingham city centre
Book worms can rejoice as a popular book shop chain is reported to be thriving with ten new stores opening a year. According to The Guardian, the high street book seller Waterstones is enjoying strong sales as young adults embrace reading.
Younger adults are said to be more inspired to read in recent years, in part thanks to social media, with trends like BookTok providing online communities dedicated to books and reading. However the trend is strong off line too with in person book clubs on the rise.
Speaking to The Guardian, Waterstone’s CEO, James Daunt, said that many are embracing reading as an escape from their screens.
Waterstones website says: “In tandem with the steady growth of strong contemporary fiction and narrative non-fiction, the company moved from strength to strength, later under the direction of CEO James Daunt successfully fending off the threat of aggressive online competition and the brief rise of eReaders.
“Now trading across the UK, Ireland and Europe in over 290 shopping locations, Waterstones continues to thrive, each year actively pursuing a programme of new bookshop openings.”
Waterstones locations include a branch on College Lane in Liverpool ONE and another in Birkenhead, Wirral.
Waterstones also says it is looking to expand to locations that are convenient for shoppers already having sites within other large retailers.
Following the success of its first shop-in-shop in Oxford Street’s John Lewis in London last October, the British retailer will open a further branch in the John Lewis in Cheadle in Greater Manchester on August 29.
Another site will open later this year in a John Lewis in Kent.
The chain has also made attempts to attract shoppers to its book shops with branded cafes in some stores.
Waterstones also has five branches located within Next clothing shops across the UK.
Waterstones was founded in 1982 by Tim Waterstone.
It 2018, it bought the Foyles bookshop chain and is also the owner of booksellers, Hatchards and Blackwell’s.
Their parent group, an investment firm called Elliott Advisors, also owns the USs largest bookshop chain Barnes & Noble.