Independent Bookshop Week 2024 was last week: Saturday 15 – Saturday 22 June and our owner Vivien Godfrey has written a few words of thanks to all our wonderful customers:
-by Vivien Godfrey
Launched in 2006 Independent Bookshop Week (IBW) is a celebration of independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland. Here at Stanfords IBW is very important to us because it highlights the vital role independent bookshops like us play in their communities, it also gives us a chance to thank all our customers for choosing us.
Since 1853, explorers, adventurers and authors have relied on the expert knowledge of our staff to help them plan expeditions and write books. As an independent bookshop with rent, taxes and expert staff (many of whom have worked for Stanfords for over 30 years) we have expenses that web only businesses do not have.
Our staff are travel specialists and cartographic experts who aid our customers in their search for their next big adventure. Past employees include Kenneth Williams who was a mapmakers draftsman at Stanfords before he turned to acting and gained fame in the Carry On films and many other members of staff have gone on to write books of their own and go on amazing adventures
Lots of authors begin their research at Stanfords and we are often mentioned in their books or given a shout out in the acknowledgements. Stanfords even crops up now and again in works of literature. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle has Sherlock Holmes “send down to Stanfords” for a large-scale map of Dartmoor.
The relationships we have built with authors over the years is something we are really proud of. We host author events, book launches and regularly have authors visit us to sign their books. We really get to know them, we read proofs of their books and are able to personally recommend them to customers. We try our best to promote travel writers, our Edward Stanfords Travel Writing Awards and Stanfords Travel Writers Festival are just some examples of platforms we present for authors to reach a wider audience. This kind of service is something you just don’t get from online giants.
Stanfords is still very much a family business. It has been in my family for three generations and my brother Joe and I are both part owners. While my family name is Godfrey I feel as much a part of Stanfords as the founding family. My grandfather and father worked their entire careers in the company. I joined the team at age 14 working during my summer holidays. I was only allowed to pack orders in the post room and not actually speak to customers.
So from all of us here at Stanfords, thank you for choosing to shop from an independent bookshop, As a customer of Stanfords you join memorable figures from history including Florence Nightingale, King Edward VII, Ernest Shackleton, Amy Johnson, Bill Bryson and Michael Palin. Every pound you spend with us goes towards helping us remain an important part of Covent Garden’s community. We not only have such a strong history but we also have many exciting plans for the future. We can’t wait to have lots more adventures with you, our loyal customers.
Many thanks,
Viven
If you haven’t had a chance to get to Stanfords, Covent Garden recently, here is Vivien to take you on a whistle-stop tour: