Why I Won’t Be Buying that Bookstore in Scotland
Re-published (June, 2021) with thoughts on indie bookstores
This story was previously published, but republished here with an update and as a reminder of the importance of indie bookstores everywhere.
The asking price is roughly $176,000 dollars. Fully stocked. Beloved space. Neighborhood is great. Right near the university in the heart of Edinburgh, a UNESCO City of Literature. The owners/sellers seem to be lovely people—Rick and Ann—who really want to see the the place continue on. They’ve run Tills Bookshop for decades and are looking to retire.
I emailed them.
Ann answered.
Tills is at 1 Hope Park Crescent and sits at the ground floor corner in a typical Victorian Sandstone built in 1900, she tells me. And yes, we have had a lot of interest. “Many find the dream of running an old bookshop in Edinburgh very appealing,” Ann added.
Boy, do they.
There’s such glorious romanticism in this idea and it is difficult to dismiss. A small used book store in one of the coolest cities in the world. Surrounded by great literature every day with customers who revel in the allure of words just as you do. And there’s that smell, too. Old books.
