‘We’re so nervous': England’s bookshops prepare to reopen on Monday

Will browsing be allowed, or will we have to judge a book by its cover? With Waterstones and some indie shops set to open on 15 June, Alison Flood finds out what the plan isMelissa Davies had planned to fulfil a lifelong dream and open her independent bookshop, Pigeon Books, in Southsea, at the beginning of April. Those plans were put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic, but with a relaxation of lockdown rules from next week, bookshops will be able to open to customers – for the first time in over two months. Davies and her husband are now preparing for a very different sort of opening. “We had to quickly rethink our entire business plan and how we could operate, and now we’re gearing up to open our doors for the first time under really different circumstances,” she says. The tiny Pigeon Books will ask its browsing customers to use hand sanitiser, or wear gloves, before and after touching books, and will restrict the number of customers in the shop to two at a time.“We’re excited about opening but also worried about how we’re going to make it work and how we can keep ourselves and our customers safe,” Davies says. She continues to work full time in customer service, and to write (her first poetry collection, Pineapples in the Pool, was published by Unbound in 2018). “We’ll be opening with reduced hours for a few weeks to see how things go. We’re so nervous about it though. Who opens a bookshop in a pandemic?” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2020-06-12 06:00:14 UTC ]

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