Bookstores Remain Unaffected in UK Riots
The Huffington Post reflects today on how British bookstores have managed to remain unscathed during the UK riots (watch that video). The bookstores' survival prompts the questions: "Did the bookstores survive because the rioters respect reading—or because they simply don't care about books?" More from the piece:
British bookstores seemed largely unaffected by the rioting that took place last night across the UK, according to a report on The Bookseller website. High-street chains such as Waterstone's and WH Smith, as well as smaller independent bookstores, were reportedly spared during the violence, which mostly targeted electronics and high-street fashion stores.
The only bookstore so far to report serious damage was Gay's the Word, an independent gay and lesbian bookstore in West London. Their assistant manager, Uli Lenart, told PinkPaper.com that he believed that some people were "using the excuse of chaos to cause anti-gay damage."
That's not to say that bookstores weren't affected at all. The Big Green Bookshop in north London said on its blog that it had cancelled last night's book club, as customers did not want to be walking around the area after dark, while The Bookseller reports that some London bookstores closed early on Tuesday evening, on the advice of the police.
Elsewhere, the Financial Times reported that small businesses in south London were mostly untouched during last night's events. In their article, Barnaby Stutter of independent bicycle store Brixton Cycles described the actions of the rioters as "quite intelligent looting."
Read the full article here.