The Little Bookshop Leeds celebrates fourth anniversary with cake and fizz after battling through pandemic

Named the The Little Bookshop, the concept was to be a specialist in children’s books, selling a large stock of fiction and non-fiction from tiny babies to young adults.

Four years and a pandemic later, the Chapel Allerton bookshop is celebrating its fourth anniversary after overcoming many challenges.

The owners had to quickly reshape the business in March 2020, providing a different service to customers as the shutters went down and people were told to stay at home.

The Little Bookshop made the pivot to selling online in the hope that this would ensure its survival. The online shop was an instant success with high demand - not just for children’s titles, but adult orders too.

Now thriving after lockdown, it has continued to cater for older readers with an area dedicated to adult books.

On Saturday November 6, The Little Bookshop is holding a special event to mark its fourth birthday. Customers are invited to visit for a soft drink and piece of cake between 9pm-5pm, or a glass of fizz from midday.

Guests will have the opportunity to view the shop’s new Christmas collections and meet local authors who will be doing signings and readings throughout the day.

The Little Bookshop, on Harrogate Road, prides itself on selling a wide-range of titles which are diverse, inclusive and cover many topics of interest.

Any titles not available in the shop can be ordered with a quick turnaround, with a home delivery option also available.

One of the bookshop's owners, Cheryl Duffield, said: “It has been an incredibly tough time for retail in the last 18 months but especially for an independent business like ours.

"Having to close our much-loved shop meant we didn’t know if we would survive, but we have seen so much support from all our customers- old and new – it has been really humbling.

“Everyone has embraced our new online shop and really supported us by continuing to buy their books at The Little Bookshop.

"Our fourth birthday celebration is our thank you to them and we hope to be celebrating many more to come.”

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