“Independent bookstores bring neighborhoods to life and create a real local life”. Christophe likes to stroll through the shelves of Lille bookstores. Having lived in England for a long time, “When I returned to Lille, I really liked finding this link with small bookstores given that in England, they had been devoured by the big brands”deplores this history teacher who likes to have a personalized experience. “Everywhere you go, you find the same thing, the same storefronts, the same books… It’s very sanitized, and I like finding a more authentic atmosphere in small bookstores”.
“The bookstore is doing pretty well”
Something to please booksellers. Bateau livre, located rue Gambetta in Lille, welcomes up to 200 customers on weekends. “There are people who come to bookstores in an activist and committed way, they choose to come to independent bookstores rather than going to large retailers, and that’s pretty cool”smiles Nicolas, bookseller at Bateau Livre for six years.
For him, it is thanks to its age that this bookstore is still popular. “It’s a treasury that is holding up and which means that it has a sufficient base to hold on and a turnover that has been in place for years.”
Bertrand Tollé is co-manager of the Biglemoi bookstore-café in Lille in the Fives district. “The bookstore is doing quite well. The Covid-19 crisis is now behind us”, he declares. This bookstore, opened about three years ago, receives between 50 and 70 customers per weekday, including retirees, students and families.
Others in great difficulty
Not all Lille bookstores are coping and many are closing their doors. La Petite, Godon or even Meura. The Place Ronde bookstore relies on donations from Lille residents to try to survive. Open since 2018, it has been weakened by the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation. “A bookstore is economically fragile and when it is young, it cannot withstand the storms”, deplores Fabienne Van Hulle, its founder. The sixty-year-old has seen attendance at the bookstore drop by 30% since the start of the year. She points out, among other things, the rise in the price of books: “When a large format on the table exceeds 25 euros, customers put it down.”
Friends of the Bookstore have created a support fund to enable it to cope with difficulties and maintain the bookstore.
