WHEN The Book House in Summertown closed after 40 years in 2018 local bookworms were understandably upset.
Now, the literati of North Oxford can look forward to turning over a new leaf as London-based Daunt Books is promising them a happy ending.
The chain based in Marylebone in London is to take over the former NatWest Bank building in Banbury Road.
James Daunt is the founder of the Daunt Books chain, and since May 2011 has been managing director of Waterstones.
Rose Cole, now in charge at Daunt Books, said she and her fellow staff were looking forward opening the new branch in Summertown.
READ AGAIN: Famous bookshop to close after 40 years
She said: “We don’t have a specific date yet but we will be opening in the spring - we are hoping for early April.
“Oxford has been on our radar for quite a few years - customers from Oxford come to us when they shop in London.
“When the bank closed it doors we were alerted to the opportunity.
“It’s not as easy as you might think, converting a bank into a bookshop, there are very thick walls and vaults which we have removed.”
Daunt Books specialise in travel writing but Ms Cole said a wide range of subjects would be stocked including children’s and cookery books.
She added: “We are quite far out of the city centre so we think our audience will be quite local.”
As well as the Marylebone High Street flagship store there are a number of other branches including those in Holland Park, Cheapside, Chelsea and Hampstead.
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There are also shops in Kentish Town, Marlow and Saffron Walden but these have different names.
In 2018 staff at The Book House, including owner Brian Pattinson, said the decision to close had been made with great sadness.
Its sister shop in Thame - founded in 1973 initially as The Red House and also owned by Mr Pattinson - remains open.
The closure of The Book House was blamed on a ‘combination of things’ including rents, business rates, the rise of Amazon and a reduction in footfall.
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Bestselling Oxford author Philip Pullman, who was wrote the His Dark Materials trilogy, was among those who lamented the closure.
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