Jason Burley, owner of Camden Lock Books, gives an insight into his ‘local shop for local people’…
Books are my vocation. I bought my first tiny shop in Camden Lock market with my Enterprise Allowance from a diplomat called Dodoo, who was being posted overseas. That was 1984 - if ever there was a year to start an independent bookshop then “1984” was it. The existing stock was upgraded, sought-after secondhand books were sourced and the shop renamed “Lot 49 Books” (in homage to Thomas Pynchon). At the zenith I’d expanded to 3 shops (1 on the South Bank, 2 in Camden Lock).
When we moved to Old Street Station in 2002 we were stocking exclusively new books and named after the place of our inception. We’re a general independent bookshop but also specialize in great photographic books, local history and books on contemporary music (& Jazz & World music CDs). Mhairi is the assistant manager; she’s worked for me very many successful years - she loves her books and jazz.