Independent bookshops have been going through rather a difficult time in the past few years. With the growth in discounting and supermarkets muscling in on the market, many independent bookshops have gone to the wall. Indeed in one infamous week earlier in the year, six closed down.

So, Mostly Books which opened in Abingdon on July 1, is definitely bucking the trend.

Run by husband-and-wife team Nicki and Mark Thornton, they are trying to create a fantastic browsing experience.

There is a large airy room at the front with a wide array of books laid out in a way that makes you want to buy, with a smaller children's room at the back and a courtyard with tables and chairs.

To entice you to stay, they also serve coffee and cakes. More unusually, they also stock an array of cookware, hence the name, Mostly Books.

Neither Mr Thornton, 36, or 40-year-old Mrs Thornton has any retail experience, but they are absolutely mad about books and have always wanted to run a bookshop.

Mr Thornton said: "It's always been on the things to do before you die' list."

The duo also have a lot of entrepreneurial experience, having both run their own companies in the past. One was a website for writers, which was not overly successful, but it gave them ideas.

Mr Thornton explained: "We thought if we could have a bookshop, we could use this as a centre and run other things around it. You could then do book groups and writers' groups."

The Thorntons are aiming to be a general bookshop but, realising they need to diversify to compete with the major bookstores, the couple stock a wide range of literature, including those from two niche publishers, Persephone and Eland.

While the former concentrates on fiction for women by women - a little like the imprint Virago - Eland publishes classic travel writing.

The cookware is there because of a deal the Thorntons made with the shop's previous tenant, Jill Carver, who ran a cookware shop as an adjunct to her delicatessen further down the road.

They are committed to keeping the cookware for three months, although they intend to carry on afterwards.

Mr Thornton said: "We have a lot of people coming in here who think it's quirky and makes the shop stand out.

"It has already helped to bring in people who would not normally visit a book store, although it has confused one or two who thought they were visiting a charity shop."

As Christmas looms closer, the Thorntons want to integrate the two strands.

Mr Thornton added: "We can start doing more gifts, packages of cookbooks and cookware."

They also want to widen the array of cookbooks and implements in the children's section. In fact, they see the children's area as a major plank in their strategy for success, having had some hands-on experience with two-year-old son, Alex.

"We already knew we wanted to do children's books," Mr Thornton explained.

"We had our own child and Nicki used to look for bookshops that she could go into with the baby, where there is a nice, safe environment, a place to sit down and have a coffee and relax and maybe browse a few books."

Recognising that mothers often come in with one child while pregnant with another, they deliberately concentrated on providing a wide range of pregnancy and baby books and this is paying dividends.

"We've already had people buying books who said: I thought I'd have to go into Oxford to get this.' And people come in here because they know there's a good range."

While they may lack retailing experience, the Thorntons are savvy about capitalising on what is around them.

They have found networking through the local chamber of commerce to be invaluable and, with a group of other retailers, hope to turn Abingdon into a mecca for children's shops.

It helps that they are on Stert Street, a few doors down from The Nursery Shop, and are also near a children's shoe shop, clothes shop and a new toy shop.

A particularly smart move was setting up a web diary (blog) back in March.

Mrs Thornton said: "We've had some fantastic advice and messages of support from people as far away as Canada.

"Anytime we wanted any help, we just put something on the blog."

Mr Thornton added: "It's allowed us to have almost a year's worth of retail experience before we even opened. It was just amazing."

There is already another independent book shop in Abingdon, The Bookstore, but Mr Thornton believes they can complement each other.

He said: "The feeling of people who come in here is that we are a different kind of shop and offer a different kind of retail experience."

He sends customers down to the other shop if they cannot find what they want in theirs.

He added: "It's good for Abingdon. They can come here for books and come to both shops. It means more book buyers for both of us."

But they should also carry a warning about spending far more money than you mean to. I certainly did.

Contact: Mostly Books 01235 525880, www.mostly-books.co.uk