The number of independent bookshops in the UK declined in 2024, going from 1,063 to 1,052, continuing the previous year’s downward trend but still well above the 2016 low of 867.
The latest membership numbers released by the Booksellers Association (BA) revealed that indie bookshops still performed better than the wider retail sector, which saw approximately 37 shops close per-day in 2024, according to recent data from the Centre of Retail Research.
In addition, 45 new independent bookshops opened their doors in 2024, slightly fewer compared to the 51 new stores of 2023. Most of these are located in the East of England and London, but there are new bookshops across the country. The BA characterised this as a vote of confidence in bookselling, but said that any decline of overall indie bookshop members was also a reminder of the difficult conditions within which booksellers operate.
Meanwhile, Christmas trading was challenging due to a sluggish overall book market and declining high street footfall. Year-on-year volume and value of book sales in 2024 were down 1.7% and 0.6% respectively, according to Nielsen BookScan data, with high street footfall falling 2.5% from October to December, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
The BA’s Christmas Trading Survey of more than 150 independent bookshops demonstrated the resilience of indie bookshops, but concerns remain for the year ahead. After a slow start to Christmas trading, 56% of respondents saw sales increase year-on-year in 2024, up from 50% in 2023, while 31% saw a decrease, compared to 30% in 2023.
In response to a separate trading survey by The Bookseller, Rosamund de la Hey of The Mainstreet Trading Company in Melrose said that sales we up 7% up in December, compared to 2023, with the 23rd delivering the shop’s highest day sales in almost 17 years. However, other booksellers said that Christmas sales were disappointing this year, with Sam Taylor of Bristol’s Max Minerva’s and Mel Griffin of Griffin Books in Penarth both seeing a 10% drop year-on-year, while for the Five Leaves Bookshop in Nottingham sales dipped 12%, following an particularly strong 2023.
