Ian Allan Manchester bookshop to close

[Bevan Price]

I'm afraid that will be the case. I think the writing has been on the wall for a while now.

Sadly a lot of small bookshops (both new & secondhand) have disappeared in recent years.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The Ian Alan Manchester bookshop has now closed. Its last day of trading was yesterday, Wednesday 1st June.

I was not in Manchester in the days prior to the closure. Did the shop offer any bargain sale priced stock (not any cheap "rubbish books" brought in especially for the last couple of trading weeks) or was all the stock bound for their remaining currently open shops?

 

[Greenback]

Sadly a lot of small bookshops (both new & secondhand) have disappeared in recent years.

Indeed, not that it gives me any pleasure to see it happen. The retail industry is changing, many would say for the better, but there is always a downside to progress.

I remember being in school in the late 1970's when there was all sorts of talk about more leisure time in the future, and how we'd be able to order our shopping from our living room and have it brought to us.

It did cross my mind that more leisure time might equal more periods of unemployment and economic inactivity rather than shorter hours and more days off (though that has also been the case for some industries), but I never worked out that high street shops would suffer because of home shopping and delivery.

 

[Rail Ranger]

Paul,

There was a 50% off offer from (IIRC) Monday 16th May and on the last day all remaining books were £2 each.

 

[Busaholic]

Paul,

There was a 50% off offer from (IIRC) Monday 16th May and on the last day all remaining books were £2 each.

There won't have been anything 'bought in' and they'd much rather get rid of the stock, at any price, than transfer it to another shop or back to their warehouse. The stock will have been 'written off' in tax terms. I don't claim to be an expert, let's just say I've been there.