WORRIED Lymm residents have been raising concerns over the proposed closure of St Rocco’s Book Shop at Lymm fearing it will damage trade in the village, with other shops also rumoured to be closing due to increased rents.
Although St Rocco’s say keeping the shop open is not viable, residents believe it is doing well and providing a valuable service to the village.
They say it attracts people into the village from outlying areas and that because of the range of books available at bargain prices is helping to encourage children to read.
Books were originally sold in the main St Rocco’s charity shop in Lymm, and residents suspect that the books will go back to the other shop. But they argue that only a restricted range will be available because of restrictions on space.
It will also mean there will be less room for other items, such as toys and children’s clothing.
One resident who contacted Warrington Worldwide said: “Closure of this shop will be damaging to the viability of the whole village centre. Rumours are circulating that other shops are also going to close.
“The problem is that Lymm, historically, has had high rents for shops.
“Local landlords should realise they are already asking too much for rent – they are killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.”
Meanwhile, another resident who has worked as a volunteer said: “Bookshop users will be aware of the book sale held over the last few weeks. This has led to a massive increase in the shop’s turnover, a factor that does not appear to be recognised by the St Rocco’s decision-makers.
“The proposal seems to be a classic case of short-termism and will have a number of knock-on effects. The number of books on display will be drastically reduced, possibly by 50%, which will ultimately be self-defeating in terms of revenue. This reduction will also affect the number of children’s books available, at a time when we should be encouraging our children to read!
“We are well aware of the strong feeling about this news, not just from the inhabitants of Lymm, but from people who come from miles around purely to browse in the shop. They welcome the social contact provided by the shop. This will have an adverse impact, not just on St Roccos but on Lymm commercial outlets generally, as yet another quality retail outlet will be lost.
“While we appreciate that St Roccos is a charity organisation whose role is to raise funds for the hospice, it is clear their actions will lose them the good will of the local people and will, ultimately, backfire.”
Confirming the closure of the book shop a spokesperson for St Rocco’s Hospice said: “As has been covered widely in the press recently, this is a very difficult time for hospice funding and our retail team at St Rocco’s must make sure we are maximising the return on our efforts to maintain the valuable services that we offer to our patients and their families.
“We have been reviewing our retail operations across the town and have developed a long-term plan to increase the contribution that we can deliver for St Rocco’s.
“As part of this, as the lease for the Lymm Book Shop was at an end, we reviewed its viability as a standalone shop and concluded that we can return more by combining both operations in Lymm into one shop.
“Our fantastic volunteers in Lymm do a brilliant job to support the hospice and we are grateful for everything that they do. We hope many of those who have worked in our book shop will choose to continue to help us run the combined shop.”
