Chener Books

[Reluctant runner]

How does it survive? It was around when I was a school for God's sake. The staff are SO rude they don't bother to look up from their computer as you enter the shop. Village (Dulwich) Books is definitely worth the walk.

[mixulee]

why does it have to have a lick of paint ? I think it's quite charming and it makes a change from the gleaming facades and super bright organic cutlery shops springing up everywhere. Getting really pissed with the type of useless poxy new overpriced gift shops we're getting right now (Moxon's aside). East Dulwich becoming more and more like Northcote Road in Clapham every week. Next thing you know we'll be seeing White Stuff opening on Lordship Lane. Er. Oh.

[Jo]

A lick of paint isn't really the problem, although it does help make you feel as if someone cares for the things they're selling. The real problem is the consistent leak - last I heard water plus paper equals bad news. Damp really isn't good for books. For now I'll stick to going to Review.

and Black Books was the 1990's, and a highly accurate representation of working in such an establishment...:)

[Pierre]

Black Books, on Wikipedia.

Sorry.

: P

[Jeremy]

Mixulee - good point, why bother making your shop look nice. After all, it's not as if you'll get more customers if your shop doesn't look like a total sh!t hole.

I do agree that a lot of the shops sell useless nik-naks, but it's better to have them there than empty, boarded up shops. Or worse still - "one pound" stores...

[RosieH]

did anyone ever go to Wordsworth in Camberwell? that was a great bookshop, staffed by friendly, helpful, well-read people: good books, nicely presented. but it went out of business because people didn't buy. do we really think that Chener would be rammed every Saturday if it had a lick of paint, or is it more that we want it to live up to the decorative standards we've come to expect from ED? I've only been in a couple of times and found it not altogether hospitable - at least you'd want to get it on with Bernard Black (just me?) - I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

[Jo]

No it's not just you ... :)

[Domitianus]

Back to collective nouns. Are you aware of the following:

A murder of crows

A parliament of owls

An incompetence of coppers

An embezellment of Romanians

[Amelie]

An eloquence of advocates

[mockney piers]

Isn't that a fleece of advocates?

[Ant]

Or an equivocation?

[Amelie]

Loquor means I speak.

[Ultraconsultancy]

Retrospectively to Rosie H

Wordsworth was indeed a great shop. But the reasons for it's down fall were a little more complex. In the main it was about a fall in sales during a refurbishment, where the landlord doing the refurb wouldn't compensate the shop. They couldn't make it through the dry spell. Also I think their intermediate landlord went bust, causing a lot of legal difficulties. but there were problems with the shop itself; the staff were indeed excellent, but the product offer was too arty, political, and chi-chi. They should have had a lot more mainstream, family, and disciounted stock, and more kids and stationery too. Pretty much what Waterstones has just diagnosed for itself really.

Chener i think has a complacency problem; ironically the same one they had six years ago when I decided to stop going there. Friends of mine say that the discount book chains are eyeing the ED area with envious eyes; trouble afoot.

Ultra

[rob]

The trouble for Chener is the same as the trouble for all other book and record / dvd shops. I can sit here in my chair and order anything I like when I like and have it delivered to where I like. The idea of trudging down to Chener - or HMV, or Virgin, or anywhere, really - to root through and see whether they a) have what I want in stock b) have it at the price I want c) are going to make me stand in line for ages just for the pleasure of buying it is just ludicrous.

[Huguenot]

Ah, that may be indeed the key point perhaps? I go to Chener because I'm not sure what I want to buy - and I can't be bothered to read excerpts online, regardless of how many copyright laws Googles gracelessly over steps...

[Nero]

Chener books - good place, could do with a mini-spruce up, staff ok.

Collective nouns - a smuck of jellyfish. Impress your friends with this one. Nero

[Domitianus]

How about a swansong of bookshops?

[uj64]

What's wrong with the slightly tired shopfront? Has anyone pointed out that you can't judge a book by its cover?? I think it's a pretty good bookshop - always has something of interest on the table and they are friendly staff, in a bookish kind of way which I guess is to be expected. Why do we need Lordship Lane to have uniformly shiny frontages? More of clone town Britain.

[Ultraconsultancy]

Not at all uj64.

Most retailers nowadays have got past the antediluvian idea that success can be a result of literary merit alone; customers now demand a high quality personal service in selling goods, and in a wecoming, safe, and interesting environment too.

if you want to see what a good independent bookshop looks like then try;

http://www.mrbsemporium.com/

http://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/

There's no reason why there couldn't be a swathe of such shops throughout London

Ultraconsultancy