The long search to find a new owner for Family Books, Keynsham, has been unsuccessful and the shop will finally cease trading this weekend, Saturday April 10th 2010, as store owner David Brassington takes his retirement.
According to a report in the Bath Chronicle things looked hopeful in June last year when four prospective buyers approached David within the space of 36 hours and serious talks were held with one of them. Those talks did not lead to a sale, however, and the search continued with a fresh appeal for any interested parties to come forward made via the pages of Christian Marketplace in November 2009.
Sadly no buyer for the business has appeared and David’s retirement now brings 25 years of independent Christian bookselling in Keynsham to an end. The nearest Christian bookshops are in Bristol and Bath, both of which are still served by branches of Wesley Owen.
So June has eventually persuaded him to retire! David’s a legend. For those who never visited the shop, you missed a treat! David managed to cram in more books per sq.ft than any other bookseller I know – yet he invariably knew exactly where any item was!
He will certainly be a loss to the people of Keynsham & district(as he also sold general and local interest titles).
Aslan books are now open instead, in Keynsham through st johns Church. Much of the stock from KFB was gifted to other book stores or ppl who sold it on, so all was far from lost.
Thanks for joining the dots there, Kim: I added Aslan Books Keynsham to UKCBD’s listings a while back, but didn’t think to add a note to this post. You’ll find the entry here: christianbookshops.org.uk/aslanbookskeynsham.htm