An ex-teacher who has taken a “massive gamble” setting up a new bookstore in Arnold has spoken out about how he’s used as many local resources as possible to make his store a community for people. With the cost of living, high rents and the uncertainty of how the business will do, Tim Beeden, 44, has left a guaranteed income from teaching to start his new business.
The shop, in Calverton Road in Arnold, had previously been a hairdressers and a nail salon. The new bookstore, BUK, opens on September 10.
On the shelves, which Tim joked he can put up blindfolded now, are an array of books. There are children's books, fiction, non-fiction, books from local authors, black authors, Indie books and books emphasising the importance of mental health and disability awareness. The Calverton resident spoke about how having his own bookstore came about.
He said: “This was on the market, I had been looking previously but rent is so expensive at the moment, I saw a couple of places but here, it was reasonably priced and then, things started to click.”
Tim continued: “I bit the bullet and gave up teaching right when there was a recession and I had no guaranteed income but I did it because I didn’t want to think ‘what if'.”
To stock most of his store, Tim used the suppliers Gardners Books. One of the important things when setting up BUK was paying for local companies’ resources.
Tim's dad had wallpapered the store and he’s gotten a helping hand from his nine-year-old son setting up too. Cards designed by Tim’s neighbour who is an artist are also displayed for sale.
Tim said: “From the accountant to the coffee that will be free in store, they were local. For the coffee, it’s from a company called Outpost and in the store, you won’t have to pay for the coffee but can leave a donation.”
All donations will go to the Calverton-based charity The Little Ted Foundation. Tim went on to say: “We’re not on the high street but we still want people to come in and have a chat and a coffee, share book recommendations. I want it to be an experience for people and although buying things on Amazon is easy, convenient I can’t even begin to compete with Amazon but you can’t get that experience [of physically interacting with people in store] from online retailers.”
Tim spoke about his concerns he said: “I’m absolutely worried about keeping the place afloat. I've given up my guaranteed income, the pressure is on, it’s a massive gamble but it won’t be for the lack of trying.”
However, despite his concerns, he’s looking forward to getting to know his customers and what genre of books they enjoy. Tim will also be supplying primary schools.
He said: “As an ex teacher, I’ve been really keen on getting books in schools. I can help them prepare for Ofsted inspections because Ofsted will ask ‘how many books do you have that aren’t written by white authors?’ and ‘what authors do you have from more than 10 years ago?’”
Tim would also like to go into secondary schools to get people reading. Tim said sometimes, at secondary school age people can find reading disinteresting.
With the cost of living affecting many people across the UK. Tim understands this.
He said: “Not everyone wants to spend loads on anything really but reading is an opportunity to immerse yourself, things can get a bit rubbish at the moment but escaping momentarily, a book can do that for you.”
BUK will also be doing free local delivery within a certain radius and people will be able to order books to store online.
Conservative MP Tom Randall for Gedling has said: “As our high streets increasingly become places where people go for experiences, independent shops have a great role to play in offering a tailored service to customers away from the norm. The news that Bük is opening in Arnold in September is fantastic. I’ve spoken briefly to the owner who is doing a lot of preparatory work before the shop launches and I wish it every success.”
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