Bookseller launches ‘beautiful’ new store
England’s “largest independent bookshop in decades” has opened in Bath.
Topping and Company Booksellers have gone from strength to strength during their 14 years on The Paragon and can be counted as a Bath institution.
But their success reached new heights when they secured permission to convert the Friends Meeting House on York Street into a bookworm’s paradise.
The new store has now opened. Inside, surrounded by the work of authors new and old, you feel like you’ve stepped into JK Rowling’s Flourish and Blotts, or perhaps the library from Beauty and the Beast.
Books tower over you, with the highest shelves reachable only by ladder - and everywhere you turn there is another surprise.
Natural light pours in from the glass dome above and you can browse for as long as you like to a soundtrack of soothing music.
Will you settle on a cosy Jane Austen, Anthony Trollope, or perhaps try Bernadine Evaristo’s award-winning “Girl, Woman, Other”?
You can sip a cup of tea or coffee while you make up your mind, thanks to the helpful and friendly staff running the shop.
Saber Khan helps manage the new store and revealed there were over 70,000 tomes on its shelves.
He said: “The reaction has been great. Lots of people have been coming in and they’ve been absolutely spellbound by how beautiful the place is and how lucky we are to be here.
“It’s been great to see their happy faces. We have about 70,000 books here - maybe more. We are booksellers and we do everything ourselves, it’s not just automated things.
“All of us look after our own sections so it’s very personal and very hands-on.
“Since Saturday, we have had more people in than we can keep track of. On that first day, there wasn’t a quiet moment at all and there are still lots and lots of people coming in.”
It is a labour of love for Saber, who has worked in a bookshop “since his university days” nearly 30 years ago.
The store is open from 8.30am to 9pm every day and offers a host of book signings and events. For details go to: www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/bath.