Episode 6 | What it takes to survive 50 years in bookselling: Ron Johns, Falmouth Bookseller, Cornwall

What does it take to survive more than 50 years as an independent bookseller?Ron Johns started working in the book trade in 1969. Five years later, armed with £800 borrowed from his dad, he opened his first bookshop in Plymouth.Today, at 74, Ron runs three independent bookshops in Cornwall – the Falmouth Bookseller, St Ives Bookseller and Padstow Bookseller – as well as his own publishing company, Mabecron Books.Along the way, he has survived recessions, Amazon, the arrival of Kindle and the collapse of the academic bookselling market that had once provided him with a million-pound business. He has bought bookshops when unexpected opportunities appeared, become a publisher almost by accident, and partnered with Rick Stein to open in Padstow.Ron describes much of it as luck.But after more than half a century in business, his story also reveals the importance of knowing when to take a chance, when to change direction and when to let the next generation take the lead.In this episode of Bookshop Stories, we talk about the commercial reality behind running an independent bookshop, why all businesses are fragile, the importance of being “fleet of foot”, and what Ron has learned from spending almost his entire working life selling books.We also discuss why good booksellers should be “radiators” rather than “fridges”, whether technology can ever replace the person behind the counter, why Ron thinks an A-board can still beat social media – and why, after all these years, he would do it all again.You can find books recommended by Ron and other guests, alongside some of my own choices, at the Bookshop Stories store on Bookshop.org. And for more from Bookshop Stories, including the companion article to this episode, subscribe on Substack.