Chepstow bookshop makes national award shortlist

Chepstow Books & Gifts is among six stores in Wales which will compete for the honour of representing the country at the national finals.

Sponsored by Gardners, this year will see 63 bookshops from nine regions and countries competing to be named the best independent retailer.

The shops will compete to win their region first, before vying for the overall prize, which will be announced at The British Book Awards winner ceremony on Monday, May 23.

The overall Independent Bookshop of the Year winner will also compete to be crowned Retailer of the Year.

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The Independent Bookshop of the Year Award celebrates those stores that have continued to support local communities with magnificent books, which have provided enjoyment, distraction and succour for the nation’s readers during these turbulent times.

The past two years have seen independent bookshops up and down the country completely transform their operational models in order to get books into the hands of readers.

This has ranged from bicycle deliveries to local customers, to booksellers rapidly building new e-commerce platforms, while also creating new channels for interactive video content to replace in-person events.

Tom Tivnan, The Bookseller’s managing editor, says: “ The received wisdom in the book trade when the pandemic first hit was that independent booksellers might be the most vulnerable.

“They have proved anything but as through close ties to their communities, indies have flourished for the last two years.”

The full list of Wales finalists is as follows:

• Book-ish, Crickhowell;
• Chepstow Books & Gifts, Chepstow;
• Cover To Cover, Swansea;
• Griffin Books, Penarth;
• Gwisgo Bookworm, Aberaeron;
• The Bookshop, Mold.