Happy Birthday to Us
December 2nd 2006 – 2016 and onwards!
The last twenty years have seen a massive decline in independent bookshops but here in a corner of Cornwall one is flourishing.
Another 67 bookshops closed in 2013, leaving just 987 in 2014 across the country. In 2005, the figure was 1,535. A third of all UK bookshops have closed in the past 10 years and yet here we are.
Founded in 2002, we started selling books online via a newcomer called Amazon. We were so successful doing this that we needed to find somewhere to store the books, so we rented a room below the Manor House dentist’s. We opened the door and contrary to all the news stories that no one wanted bookshops any more, people walked in. When the dentist needed to expand we moved out to the weighbridge in Charlestown which was lovely but tiny and so we started to look around for a permanent home. Hello Mevagissey.
During this this time we have weathered a global recession, austerity cuts, the rise in kindle and e-books and the continuing growth of Amazon and like a little Cornish limpet we have hung on in there. Since 2006 we have grown from a second-hand bookshop to a mix of new, used and well loved. We have published books, Losing it in Cornwall and Scribbles from the Edge, others are on the way. We’ve held many wonderful signing events with EV Thompson, made friends with lots of great authors and supported many new writers.
Hurley Books is now an established feature of Mevagissey and every year people return to stand in front of our famous black board to try to solve our puzzles. We have done this with the help and support of great staff and wonderful family and ultimately from the customers that walk in the door.
Join us on the 2nd where we will be launching a wide range of promotions throughout the month of December.