The bookshop that stays open late
A neighbourhood bookshop moved its closing time to midnight. Its customers changed, and so did the books.
Cover image Photo by Viktoriia Kondratiuk / Unsplash
The idea came from a customer who could only visit after her shift. The owner tried staying open until midnight on Fridays. A year later, it is every night.
The late customers are different: nurses, cooks, students, insomniacs. They browse longer and talk more. The shop now stocks more poetry, more short stories, and a shelf the staff call "books for the night bus".
It is not a business model for everyone. But it is a reminder that a shop's hours decide who gets to be its customer.
