Bookshop

topcat72

Does anyone know why Limerick has no large secondhand bookshop? Dublin has Chapters, Galway has Charlie Byrnes, Cork has Vibes & scribes, whcih all seem to do very well and have managed to flourish where other shops have declined. Has anyone ever tried one here? I've not been in the city very long, so maybe there was one that failed to take off. I know there are charity shops etc, but I mean more of a used/bargain/value as well as new bookshop. I know there's Eason /O'Mahonys etc , but I mean more of a secondhand place, but not a smelly shop with torn copies of The readers digest and Dan Brown. ( And yes, I'm looking at you, shops on Upper William Street;)

Treepole

topcat72 wrote: »

Does anyone know why Limerick has no large secondhand bookshop? Dublin has Chapters, Galway has Charlie Byrnes, Cork has Vibes & scribes, whcih all seem to do very well and have managed to flourish where other shops have declined. Has anyone ever tried one here? I've not been in the city very long, so maybe there was one that failed to take off. I know there are charity shops etc, but I mean more of a used/bargain/value as well as new bookshop. I know there's Eason /O'Mahonys etc , but I mean more of a secondhand place, but not a smelly shop with torn copies of The readers digest and Dan Brown. ( And yes, I'm looking at you, shops on Upper William Street;)

Is there not a reasonably big one on Little Catherine St?

I can't imagine it's a growing market.

sioda

Nope little Catherine Street one is gone. Charity shops and that hole of a shop on high street

DeWinterZero

The only surviving secondhand book shop is on Anne Street near the entrance to the Thomas Street Car Park. Unfortunately the owner of the High Street bookshop died earlier this year. The closest to a remaindered/value bookshop is the stand outside tesco Arthurs Quay.

The charity shops prices make it too hard to compete when you've to buy your secondhand stock & make a profit on it. One of the reasons why all the cities have a much reduced amount of secondhand bookshops compared to 25 years ago.

Oxfam (middle of William st), the St Vincent De Paul (on Thomas street) & the Irish Cancer Society shop (in its new location on Upper William street) are probably the best charity shops for books and access to them. Most of the others the books are jammed into whatever corner is free.

topcat72

Ah, I had not realised the owner of the High street shop had died . It always struck me as more of a charity shop feel - it needed a skip for a lot of what was in there, alas. Good spot location wise ( i used to live in the apartment over it), but needed a lot of work. Too many charity shops doing books and all books of the same sort( Catherine Cookson & DanBrown) , I think there is definitely room for a place like Charlie Byrnes in Limerick. Or perhaps i'm deluded. But if it works elsewhere?

juneg

I was in Toulouse over the Summer and passed by a bookshop on the main street on a Saturday afternoon. There was a queue out the door of people with books in their hands waiting to sell them to the bookstore. At the time I was struck by how many bookshops there were on the street compared to an Irish city. ( Granted its a big city )
My young guide told me that selling your book back to the shop is very common. She had sold all her schoolbooks back to the bookshop. As it is a university city there is a market for college books too.
People in the queue looked to me as though they were just selling back novels they had bought. I thought it was a great idea. New books are quite expensive as I know because one of my kids is a big reader.

Umekichi

juneg wrote: »

I was in Toulouse over the Summer and passed by a bookshop on the main street on a Saturday afternoon. There was a queue out the door of people with books in their hands waiting to sell them to the bookstore. At the time I was struck by how many bookshops there were on the street compared to an Irish city. ( Granted its a big city )
My young guide told me that selling your book back to the shop is very common. She had sold all her schoolbooks back to the bookshop. As it is a university city there is a market for college books too.
People in the queue looked to me as though they were just selling back novels they had bought. I thought it was a great idea. New books are quite expensive as I know because one of my kids is a big reader.

I'd love it if a bookshop did that here. It would make me more inclined to purchase from local shops rather than amazon.

panda100

DeWinterZero wrote:

The closest to a remaindered/value bookshop is the stand outside tesco Arthurs Quay.

That's actually a real gem of a place. I love the little quirky notices they put up. It's such a pity it's in soulless Arthurs Quay.

topcat72

panda100 wrote: »

That's actually a real gem of a place. I love the little quirky notices they put up. It's such a pity it's in soulless Arthurs Quay.

Yes, they're very good there. One of the people behind it is the ex county librarian from Clare so he does know what he's doing. They need a bigger premises however, I always wondered why they didn't take one of the larger units when they were free.

apc

Phils bookshop on anne street, the street between thomas street and roches street opposite the car park on the corner of Earsons lane

yop

Charlie Byrnes is a 2nd hand book shop in Galway and I've bought and sold back 100's of books. I love the fact you can go in there and lose the guts of an hour just browsing and aren't rushed along.
I'm surprised there isn't similar in Limerick.