"Books have always been part of our DNA... but 20 years ago we had double the turnover," Michelle Jarrold, development director of the 170-year-old U.K. department store Jarrold, told the Bookseller to explain why the company chose to move its book section to the lower ground floor (from the ground floor), creating 'something much more like a bookshop in feel, and less like a department [store].... With 30,000 titles and £1.2 million [about US$2 million] a year turnover, books are actually very important to the department store and very much part of our DNA." John Jarrold II originally launched the business as a bookseller, publisher and printer before moving to its present site on London Street in Norwich in 1840.
"I want publishers to understand we have a serious book department. We value it because it is so much part of our heritage and I feel very passionate about it," Michelle Jarrold said.
The Bookseller noted that Jarrold "is run with the values of an independent bookshop, priding itself on throwing glittering author events and launches.... Manned by at least five experienced booksellers each day, the department also holds a monthly book club and hosts literary lunches."
