Bookbar: How a Highbury bookshop and winebar became a new London favourite
London’s small firms can be more than just businesses – but hubs for communities old and new. Chrissy Ryan, founder of Highbury’s Bookbar, tells CityAM why combining good books, good coffee and good wine has put her store at the heart of a thriving high street.
“It’s like stepping into your most well read friend’s living room,” Chrissy Ryan says of her now two-year-old passion project.
Books line the walls – shared tables, where readers can enjoy a flat white or the shop’s wine of the month, sit in the middle.
Bookbar was founded with a simple idea: create a sense of community around an independent bookshop.
“I wanted to celebrate the social side of reading and bring people together through books,” Ryan says.
“The two things I love most in the world are books and people. There are a lot of people out there who feel the same.”
Bringing people together through books
A long time lover of words and an avid reader herself, Ryan saw opportunity in bringing people together through shared interest in words on the page.
Planning her business from 2020, Bookbar opened its doors in 2021 with pandemic uncertainty raging all around – an “odd” time, Ryan admits, to start a business.
But having taken the risk, Bookbar kicked into life as a “click and collect” operation to adhere to pandemic guidelines. That didn’t stop her beginning the hard graft of community building, though; “very socially distanced conversations with people” began.
However, the surge in reading during lockdowns gave Bookbar a fair wind.
Bookbar created a pool of loyal customers before they had even stepped foot in the building, thanks to the social elements and anticipation they had been promoting.
Forming her community was similar to forming her now five-person team – which was a search to find like-minded book lovers.
This was “critical” to Bookbar’s success, Ryan said, as her team members are able to socialise and interact with customers on a much more personal level.
What’s unique at Bookbar, Ryan says, is that the customer is in control – if they are looking to sit down and relax or chat about a book, they can, but they can also come in and purchase one to take home.
Whichever the preference, the team is there to encourage and also participate.
A shared social space
Bookbar quickly grew to be much more than an independent bookshop – it grew to be a comfortable and welcoming place where people could gather together.
“The whole purpose of Bookbar is to celebrate the social side of reading and bring people together through books,” Ryan said.
While many avid readers sometimes find friends through fictional stories and places, Bookbar allows this to happen with real people in real time – something Ryan values greatly as a small business owner.
“We’ve had people genuinely become friends and they come back for our events together and they hangout outside of Bookar,” Ryan said. “I just think that is community and that’s what bookshops do and that’s what I wanted Bookbar to do.”
Looking to the future
Ryan has “big ambitions” for the future of Bookbar, and she wouldn’t be lying if she said she’d love to have multiple branches some day.
But for now, her focus will continue to be on community and readership – building necessary relationships along the way and making a name for her business.
She owes the success and the light of the future to her customers, she said, as they are the backbone of the business strategy.
“There are so many directions we could go in which is amazing and it’s such a testament to our customers,” Ryan said.