Two bookshops open in one month

SMALL City Bookshop has become the second bookshop to open in Redfield’s Church Road this month.

The independent shop opened last week, just a fortnight after The Good Book Shop launched at 264 Church Road.

Small City Bookshop sells a range of fiction and non-fiction for adults and children and has a section devoted to Bristol books.

The owners have the capacity to expand their range and said they would do so if there was the demand. Customers can also order in any book.

Business partners Sarah Balfour and Christie Cluett met through work and built up a friendship through their mutual love of books. Sarah has a background in bookselling, having previously worked in Waterstones and independent bookshops, and Christie has held storytelling events and was an organiser of the Bristol Festival of Literature.

They plan to hold author events, children’s storytelling sessions and possibly comedy nights in the future.

Christie, who ran an adult storytelling event, Talking Tales, in Stokes Croft for five years, will be moving the event to Small City Bookshop.

She said: “We’ve had a really great response. We’ve had a lot of people coming in really excited about a bookshop opening up because there’s not really anything that’s servicing east Bristol.”