UCC’s bookshop forced to close due to competition from online retailers

Johns Smith’s Bookshop in UCC will close its doors on Friday, November 21.

It will be with great sadness that we turn the key on a shop we’ve devoted 11 years of blood (thanks to perma-paper-cuts), sweat (those heavy accounting books don’t carry themselves upstairs) and tears (of happiness on finding someone as excited about John Steinbeck as we are). My long-serving colleagues and I will look at each-other and feel silly at our sadness that we won’t be reopening its blue doors. After all, it’s just a shop. It’s not really though, is it?

Since the news of the shop closure broke, we have been absolutely inundated with lovely messages of support from both UCC staff and students. The warmth they have expressed and their sadness at its loss has been truly heartening. It’s comforting to hear these thoughts expressed by both new and long-standing customers. We thank you all for your kind words and custom.