![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/LouiseRosePhotography-Backstory-Screensize-8-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: Louise Rose Photography<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: Louise Rose Photography<\/p>\n
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Backstory<\/strong>, a lovely independent bookshop in Balham, has crunched the numbers, and there\u2019s only one way to beat Amazon on Christmas book orders: wine.<\/p>\n Owner of the shop, Tom Rowley<\/strong>, has worked out that around 120,000 Londoners live within a half-hour walk from Backstory<\/strong>, and hopes to tempt them over to pick up their books this festive season by hovering a free glass of wine in front of them. It\u2019s surely got to be backed by science\u2026<\/p>\n If you live close to Backstory, this is a complete no-brainer. All you need to do is order on their click-and-collect service<\/a><\/strong>, and you\u2019ll be able to cheer your wine glasses when you go to pick up your next read. Even if it\u2019s a bit of a journey, this is surely the best method for removing some of the stress of Christmas shopping.<\/p>\n Speaking on the initiative, Tom Rowley said: \u201cI thought, well, Bezos has Amazon Prime, near monopoly power, Black Friday discounts, and rockets. I can\u2019t do any of that. So what do we have? Well, apart from a very warm welcome, we\u2019ve got lots and lots of wine. Jeff can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have spent a frightening amount of money connecting our website with the inventory stocked by a book wholesaler. That means we now have 500,000 books that can be ordered on our website and then available to collect in the bookshop the next day. I think that\u2019s probably the only way to prize some people out of Bezos\u2019s grip.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s certainly a much finer thing to be able to go and pick out your book from a store and feel it before either turning the pages yourself or gifting it to a loved one. Backstory\u2019s new method is a tried-and-tested way of doing just that AND getting your paws around a free glass of wine<\/a>, and who could resist such an offer in December<\/a>?<\/p>\n There\u2019s no getting away from the fact it\u2019ll always be tricky for bookstores to compete with the monolith of Amazon, but shops like Backstory\u2019s are part of a noticeable resurgence in the city alongside peers such as BookBar<\/a>, both of which not only give customers a place to pick out titles, but stick around and discuss them over a glass of wine or a coffee. Community is at the heart, and this idea from Tom Rowley is a lovely touch for anyone who heads straight to the internet to sift through books when it comes to tackling the Christmas shopping.<\/p>\n![\"Owner](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Backstory-books-666x503.jpg\"\/)
Credit: Louise Rose Photography How to enjoy a free glass of wine with your books this Christmas <\/p>\n