The popular and well-loved Woodstock Bookshop is up for sale as a going concern, as owner Rachel Phipps made the decision to sell the business and put it on the market.
Phipps opened the 278 sq ft bookshop, which has around 5,000 titles in stock, in Woodstock, Oxford, in May 2008 but decided after 12 years trading that it was time to move on. She is looking for a buyer for the business and the three-storey Victorian building which also features a large two-bedroom flat.
Writing on the Woodstock Bookshop Twitter account on 10 January, Rachel said: “Would you like to buy a thriving independent bookshop? After almost 12 years I am running out of energy and ready for a change. I really hope there’s someone out there who would like to take it on!”
The bookshop has been shortlisted three times for independent bookshop of the year, and it is where the Woodstock Poetry Festival, that ran for eight consecutive years, first began.
“For anyone interested, the bookshop is doing well financially.” Rachel adds “There was a report today saying that independent bookshops are flourishing, and that is certainly our experience. A new owner, with energy and vision, could carry the bookshop forward into the next decade and I hope that will happen.”
