Barber Street, Broseley
Owner: Sarah Lowe
PARKING: On-street parking usually available outside the shop.
HISTORY: Sarah says: “I noticed that the shop was empty and for sale, and I got in touch with the owner. I thought: ‘Why not open a book shop?’”
Severn Books opened in August. Sarah used to run Much More Books in Much Wenlock, which started about six years ago and which she has sold as a going concern.
“From then on I’ve been doing books on the internet and then this shop came up for rent, and was empty. I’m renting to buy, if that makes sense.
“I have just moved to Jackfield from North Shropshire, and used to live in Much Wenlock. My mum lives in Broseley. We are local people. I was doing the work on the internet - I sell on the web and with Amazon and ABE (American Book Exchange) and thought, rather than having to go out and source the books, if I had the shop the books would come to me. That was the idea.”
NUMBER OF BOOKS STOCKED: “We have about 6,000 listed on the internet, and I’ve got some in storage - I’ve got another 10,000 all over the place.” Sarah was not sure offhand how many were on display in the shop, but it looks to be between 1,000 and 2,000.
CLIENTELE AND FAVOURITE BOOKS: “They’re mainly all second hand books, but we have some new ones in.”
As for subject areas, she said the shop stocked anything across the board, but added: “We specialise in rare, antiquarian and second hand books. Obviously, we do first editions. People bring in books and I offer cash or half price exchange on all the books. The response has been very good. A lot of people know me from Much More Books. People say it’s nice to have a bookshop in Broseley that they can look around rather than travelling.
“We are getting collectors in, there’s a chap who goes off to the book fairs and is after anything rare, and then we get the general people who buy novels, and quite a few tourists. They go up to the clay pipe museum and have to walk past here to get to that.”
OPENING TIMES: 9am to 5.30pm every day, closed on Sundays.
CONTACTS: (01952) 884230 or at severnbooks@btinternet.com on the internet.
INTERESTING FACTS
Sarah thinks Severn Books is the first dedicated bookshop in Broseley in recent years.
The shop has seen a variety of uses down the years. “It used to be a barbers, a health food shop, and used to be the old Spar,” she says.
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