“There’s a misconception with us that we’re doing really well because we have a lot of people in and the footfall is pretty good,” Jenny McCann tells us the day after hosting an American children’s author at a special event in her Bearwood bookshop. “But that’s not necessarily always converting to sales.”
Jenny’s five star-rated Bear Bookshop might be one of the most beloved children’s bookshops in the region, but not everything is always as it appears. “People see a full shop and think ‘they’re doing really well’ because we are from the outside looking in, but it is difficult to run an independent shop like ours.”
The bookshop has been on Bearwood Road since 2020 and aside from a part-time member of staff, the mum-of-three runs the store by herself. It means long hours, with regular special events and get-togethers for the community as important a part of the business’ reputation in the neighbourhood as selling great books is.
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Jenny explains: “We’re getting more and more people in but they are spending less. Our main customer base is families with small children and they don’t necessarily have disposable income.
“Christmas was slow to start which a rep said is common for a lot of bookshops now. People underestimate how much goes into a small business going. It might look like there’s loads of people but there are so many variables.
“I’ve spoken to other independent businesses around and they’ve noticed too, a bar might get people in but they’re just ordering tap water, the costs per table is down, but you wouldn’t know because the perception is there.”
Jenny says that it’s ‘really hard to stay afloat’ for small independent businesses in and around Birmingham because there’s no central support. She explains: “We don’t have the backing of somewhere like Waterstones, every penny has to be managed by me. That means that more and more is being reinvested into the local economy, it’s not money being sent back to some central office somewhere, filtered through shareholders and then coming back. It’s just here.
“If there’s no independents, high streets are going to end up looking the same, with all the same coffee shops, book shops and food shops and there won’t be that individuality. In Birmingham and around the area, we are really good at that. It’s that character that we don’t want to lose.”
There are some days, like snow days this winter, in which no one visited Bear Bookshop at all, prompting Jenny to close up early to spend time with her family. She’s been open about those days on her social media channels, levelling with customers so they know the reality of running a shop like hers and what they’re supporting when they do visit to spend.
“We are doing pretty well, we do a lot of outreach community work where we put on free events so that anybody can come regardless of their income level,” Jenny says. “You can still come and read a book, and our lowest price book is £3 because we want it to be accessible to everybody.
“Literacy is so important and reading for pleasure has a huge impact on a child’s academic wellbeing, more than their parent’s level of education or whether you send them to private school or give them private tutoring. The biggest thing you can do is read with children for pleasure and not enough people know that.
“On one snow day I had one family come in for a storytime and they didn’t buy anything. I get some people who come in every day, just for a chat. Having a community space is important, a shop like mine isn’t about just transaction, commerce and money, it’s got heart and warmth that I think communities really need.”
It’s the heart and warmth that has earned Bear Bookshop a glowing five-star rating on Google Reviews, the top mark any business can get on the platform. Jenny said: “I’m not just saying this because I own the bookshop, but we really are the best place for families to come to buy books.
“How Brave Is The Wren in Kings Heath is gorgeous and I think people should also consider them, but people tend to see Waterstones and WH Smiths as default options and I don’t think they have that much to offer.
“I have three children myself and I take them to other bookshops so they have that experience of buying. At home they just tell me what they want and it just comes home. But I take them to bookshops and let them have a browse. We’ve been to Waterstones and they’ve come away empty handed.
“They’re not doing the events that we’re doing, they don’t have the interactivity that we have. We’re the most family friendly place to come and get your children’s books in the area, in my opinion.”
Putting in 100%, day in and day out, is a priority for Jenny, but that’s not without its challenges. “Giving it all is what I have to do to keep it going and that’s what’s hard. The energy that it takes is huge, you can’t have a low energy day and not bother, because you’re responsible for keeping it all going. We have to work harder to keep people in.”
Fortunately, if you’re going to go it alone in business, a neighbourhood like Bearwood, Jenny explains, is the best place to do it. “Bearwood is full of small business who all support each other. It can be lonely but there’s people around that I can talk to.
“We have a really thriving high street at the moment, but you don’t know how well the independents are really doing. I think that’s the same across the city.”
Bear Bookshop is at 588 Bearwood Road, Bearwood, Smethwick, B66 4BW