Store 104
Welcome to Store 104, our July Bookshop of the Month, an independent bookseller situated on Rochester’s High Street. A third-generation storekeeper, we catch up with Patrick, the owner about opening the new bookshop in the pandemic of 2020, how they curate the books that line their shelves and why they also stock yarn...
1. Tell us more about the bookshop – how did it come into being and has much changed in that time? How does knitting/yarns fit in?
Store 104 started in the heyday of the pandemic, in the summer of 2020. Our family has had a selection of shops on the High Street for over 60 years, run first by my grandmother and then her three daughters. We were offered the amazing opportunity to be the third generation of the family to run the business, doing whatever we like with it. We sat down and asked ourselves what was missing from the High Street and also what we would love to do, and so the bookshop was born. I’m also an avid knitter and we have had a yarn shop as a family for many years. My grandmother was an incredible knitter and my mother and her sisters are equally fantastic, so the yarn shop feels like a continuation of their legacy. All in all it’s a very selfish venture, I just sell exactly what I like!
We’ve added various strands to the shop, from artist’s studios on the upper floors, to a speciality café/deli at the back of the shop. We’ve also moved into cards and giftware and locally produced artisan goods, which all fit really well with us. We run events and courses too, our book club is really popular now and it all feels like we have a sense of community in the shop. It feels nice to have regular customers, five years down the line, Store 104 feels really concrete and here to stay.
2. What’s it like being an independent bookseller on Rochester’s High Street?
It’s really enjoyable, I’ve worked in other retail areas and never before have I met such a welcoming community of both other booksellers and customers. It feels like everyone really wants books to work, and so being a part of that is so refreshing, in what can otherwise feel like a very tough industry.
Rochester High Street has always been very independent, we hardly have any chain shops and so when things like the pandemic happen, instead of big box retailers abandoning their small shops, independent businesses hunker down and make things work.
Being an independent bookshop is great as well for giving our customers a curated selection of books. Whilst we can and sometimes do go for the big hitters, it’s much more enjoyable finding and presenting titles that people can’t find in other places.
One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that everything we sell is very personal and tactile, from books to yarn to the café. I can watch customers get completely absorbed in the shop and know that they’re going to find something exactly right for them, that no one else would be able to guess, there’s something really nice about that.
3. How do you pick the books that go on the shelves – is there a criteria?
Really it’s all down to personal taste, our reps have really tuned into what they think I’ll like and so when they present them to me more often than not it’s just sifting through and saying yes. I do have to be careful to make sure the bookshelves aren’t just translated fiction and short story collections…
4. If there was one book you had to recommend so far this year, which would it be?
I really enjoy Izumi Suzuki’s short story collections – Terminal Boredom and Hit Parade of Tears (Verso). I’ve been dipping into them this year and they’re so electric. Brilliantly written and I’m so glad they’ve been rediscovered and translated. I’d absolutely recommend them for people wanting something new and more than a bit off kilter.
5. And last, but not least, do you have any exciting plans for the shop in the coming months that you would like to share with us?
The shop keeps going and evolving. We’ve got book launch events in the late summer and autumn, and we’re planning on a few more things working with the local community. We’re not great at forward planning to be honest, so we like to absorb and work as we go. It’s a nice way to keep things fresh, promise!