Battersea Bookshop

December's Bookshop of the Month is the Battersea Bookshop, located in the iconic Battersea Power Station in South West London. Stocking a wide range of genres, from Art & Architecture to Travel, Childrens books to Fiction, we chat to Matthew about his normal day at the shop, what's selling at the moment and what's to come! Read on to find out more.

1. What is it like running a bookshop in the iconic Battersea Power Station building in London?

It’s a very interesting and unique location to be based in! Our unit incorporates a lot of listed architectural features of the original station, and we had to make sure they were visible and accessible to customers. Being here for the opening of the Power Station in October last year was an amazing experience; the buzz of excitement on the first day was a great thing to be a part of.

2. Who are your customers and what are they buying – have you noticed any trends?

We have a very diverse customer base, including Power Station residents and staff, people living locally in Battersea and the rest of London, visitors from other parts of the UK and international tourists. We are a general bookshop and we stock a large range of different subjects. We sell a lot of Literary Fiction and Children’s Books, and we also have a large Art & Architecture section. Our London Books are very popular, especially books about the history of the Power Station.

3. Tell us about your normal working day – what does it entail?

We start with a quick tour round the shop to make sure everything is tidy and no books are where they shouldn’t be. By this time we might have our first delivery of the day so we start opening boxes, checking off delivery notes and putting new books on the shelves. The shop starts to get busy around mid-morning, so we will be greeting customers and helping to find books where needed. After the lunchtime rush we tidy again and work on any deliveries that come in the afternoon. We might spend some time writing recommendations, posting on social media, and ordering more books. We often host author events and book launches in the evening so there might be furniture to move and chairs to put out. We are open from 10am to 9pm every day except Sundays, so we close up late and then home to bed!

4. If you had to pick a favourite book published in the last year, which would it be?

I think it has to be The Future by Naomi Alderman; a recent release but definitely our favourite book this year.

5. And finally, do you have any exciting plans for the shop in the coming months that you’d like to share with us?

We are looking forward to building on our existing events offer in the new year, and have already confirmed a couple of great authors. We will also have a new website launching in 2024 which is very exciting!