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Stewarton residents have recently been delighted to welcome a new shop to the thriving community of independent shops , boutiques , cafes and restaurants that help make Stewarton a great community to live in or to visit .
The Book Nook Stewarton , an independent bookshop , opened its doors on 12th December 2020 . As Sarah Frame , owner of The Book Nook , ruefully says , ‘ opening a new business at any time is a risk ; opening one in the midst of a pandemic is a bit mad !’ Sarah had to wait for shops to be allowed to reopen from lockdown in December before launching The Book Nook and then had only eight days trading before having to close again due to lockdown for four months . Sarah was thrilled that there was such strong support for the bookshop in those December days , with many people coming into The Book Nook and saying that ‘ a bookshop was just what the town has been waiting for ’.
Sarah has always been passionate about books and opening a bookshop has been a long held dream that is only now possible . Sarah loves Stewarton - ‘ I first moved to Stewarton more than 30 years ago , and brought my family up here . Work took me to London for some years , but I am happy to be permanently living in Stewarton now , close to many of my family and friends , and with the added joy of having The Book Nook .’
The Book Nook stocks a wide range of fiction and nonfiction books for everyone of all ages . Sarah felt it was important to have a really good selection of children ’ s books , and The Book Nook is proving very popular with children and teenagers as well as adults . And if someone wants a book that isn ’ t on the shelf , then Sarah can quickly order it in , either for collection or delivery .
During lockdown , Sarah continued with some online book sales , either through online sales from her affiliation with bookshop . org or by taking customer orders and delivering them herself . ‘ It was great to be able to
continue to offer a service to customers in some way during lockdown ’ said Sarah ‘ but it is nothing like being able to come into the actual bookshop , look at the books , chat about books , get recommendations and find interesting new books to read . I have tried to create a relaxing and welcoming space with books that cater to a range of tastes , and feedback from customers so far is really positive .’
Stewarton is a wonderful community to be part of and Sarah is very keen that The Book Nook becomes a valued part of that community . The first opportunity to demonstrate that came about in lockdown when The Book Nook joined forces with The Cup and Saucer to operate Feed N Read . The Cup and Saucer were providing free lunches for local children in need and The Book Nook donated books for delivery with the lunches . As Sarah pointed out , buying books is an unaffordable luxury for families struggling to make ends meet , and families were delighted to receive books for their children . Once word got out , Book Nook customers generously donated money to fund further books and in total over £ 500 of books were distributed to Stewarton children .
I am now building a strong customer base , with many of my customers now feeling more like friends . I am starting to get more customers coming from a wider area , who want to visit an independent bookshop and this will benefit the whole town , as they then see all the other lovely shops and eateries Stewarton has on offer .
Welcome to The Book Nook !
Baby & Toddler | Children | Teens & YA | Adult Fiction & Nonfiction
@ thebooknookstewarton
@ booknook _ sarah
2 High Street , Stewarton KA3 5AA | 07747 484788 | www . booknookstewarton . co . uk Open : Thur 11am - 7pm | Fri 10am - 5pm | Sat 10am - 4pm | Sun 12 noon - 4pm