Fireside Bookshop are celebrating their fourth year in Stroud and their 45th in the book trade this June.
Fireside Bookshop can be found on Rowcroft after taking the space left vacated by a former hair salon in 2021.
The bookshop is a truly family affair with Rob Sheppard working alongside his daughter Martha to curate an ever growing collection of good quality secondhand, academic and antiquarian books.
Rob’s wife Barb is a trained bookbinder and takes care of stock repairs and shipping and Martha’s husband Ben is a relatively recent addition to the team, looking after the increasingly relevant tech side of the business whilst also learning the more traditional aspects of the booktrade.
Martha and Ben’s young boys are both book mad and can sometimes be found in the shop too, so perhaps there’ll be a third generation in the trade!
The book business has been through a rollercoaster of ups and downs and seismic shifts in the 45 years Rob has been in business, from the arrival of the internet to the growth of e-readers, it has always been important to keep evolving.
The cliche of the dusty old bookshop, stacked floor to ceiling with leaning towers of ancient tomes persists, but in reality it is only by being dynamic and staying relevant that the traditional bookshop can survive in the modern world.
Martha told Stroud Times: “People often remark when they come into the shop that it’s great to see bricks and mortar secondhand bookshops still exist.
“Customers feel that being able to browse in a real bookshop, handle and see the books and of course smell that wonderful bookshop smell is important and cannot be replicated online. It is an experience that allows you to find things you didn’t even know you were looking for. In an age where so many parts of our lives are conducted via a screen, there is something comforting and grounding in losing oneself for a while in books. Hopefully people will feel this way for a long while yet, despite the industry going through some real challenges the family strongly feel there is life in the old bookshop yet.
“Whilst we sell a lot online, we’ve always felt it’s really important to have a physical shop as well. Building relationships with our customers and serving the community is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the trade and it is also a great way to source books.
“The family have always wanted their shop to be somewhere that has something for all book lovers. The aim is to have interesting and rare books to tempt collectors and academics whilst also having something you can pick up to read in bed or on the beach and everything in between.”
Martha is one of a small but growing band of younger female secondhand booksellers and is passionate about keeping the trade alive for future generations.
“I’ve known I wanted to be a bookseller from a young age. The book trade is a demanding but very rewarding area to work in. The opportunity to meet interesting people, learn new skills and of course see lots of interesting books is a fantastic opportunity and I hope in our small way we can encourage the next generation of booklovers and booksellers who are doubtless waiting in the wings.”
Fireside Bookshop, 8 Rowcroft, Stroud, GL5 3AZ
