Volunteers at the Oxfam bookshop in Huddersfield are set to open a new chapter when the store closes its doors on Saturday (Dec 3).
The shop in Market Avenue – an Aladdin’s cave of books, records and artwork – is shutting after nine years due to rising rental costs. Staff have been selling books for £1 each for the past few weeks in a bid to clear the shelves.
But book lovers will still be able to browse to their hearts’ content when a book department opens at the charity’s New Street store.
Adrian Hughes, who manages both shops, said he hoped to open the new department as quickly as possible because December was traditionally a strong selling season. The New Street store will be stocked with books currently sitting in the Market Avenue shop store room.
Adrian said running the Market Avenue store had been “a joy” but the rent was now too high. “It’s higher than some book shops in York and higher than the New Street store,” he said.
And he revealed that the book store came about almost by accident. “We were expecting to have to leave New Street and Market Avenue was to be the new store,” he said.
“In the end, we didn’t have to leave and we were able to use Market Avenue as a bookshop. It has been very popular and has attracted people from miles around. Books on history, art, philosophy and classic literature – that’s what we were best at. I’m very proud of it.”
