Talking shop with Papyrus
How does an independent retailer thrive for 40 years? Fiona Fabien, Director and Co-owner of Glasgow gift shop Papyrus says adaptability, passion and teamwork are central to the retailer’s success. And of course, great products.
We chatted to Fiona, a long-standing customer of Bookspeed, to find out more about what makes Papyrus tick as it celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
Anyone who has strolled down Glasgow’s iconic Byres Road will not have failed to be drawn into Papyrus, a treasure trove of cookware, gifts, fashion accessories and books, bringing together sought-after brands with lesser-known labels. The retailer has been a firm fixture of Glasgow’s West End since 1981, when founder Mary Sandground opened a tiny shop in the De Courcy’s Arcade, a quirky shopping centre just off Byres Road. Rapid expansion followed and Papyrus moved into its current home in 1988.
Mary's daughters Fiona Fabien and Felicity Pollock are at the helm today, having joined their mother in the running of the business in the 1980s. In recent years, the sisters have navigated the myriad challenges of the pandemic, economic ups and downs, and Brexit, adapting to evolving consumer demands with initiatives, such as pop-up shops. But the focus for now is the Byres Road store.
“Since the pandemic, the retail market is in a bit of turmoil, so we’re concentrating on our West End shop, which is great because we have unique customers over here. It’s a nice mix,” says Fiona.
“The West End of Glasgow has a reputation of being a wealthy, affluent area but it’s actually quite bohemian. A lot of creative people base themselves here and you’ve got a lot of students. With the University of Glasgow being close by, you also get quite a turnover of people. But then you’ve got your people who’ve been here forever. Born and bred and always lived in the West End, like myself.”
This local community is always at the forefront of the Papyrus team’s minds when developing their product ranges. Understanding their own identity and how it connects to the Byres Road shopping culture is important.
“We’re an independent business, a local business. We don’t want to be like the national multiple retailers.”
“We’re an independent business, a local business. We don’t want to be like the national multiple retailers. We want to offer something more unique. It’s also about products you can find elsewhere but the way we put it together might offer something different,” says Fiona.
To serve Glasgow’s West End community, Fiona believes books are an essential ingredient not just for the shelves of Papyrus but as a staple of Byres Road’s culture, no matter who is selling them.
“When Waterstone’s came across the road, people were asking us ‘what are you going to do?’ But bookshops bring people to Byres Road. If you’re a book person you might go to Waterstone’s, then to Oxfam and you might also pop into Papyrus to pick up a book, so it’s all good.
“It does mean we need to be cleverer and work a bit harder with our book range but a lot of our sales are to do with footfall. People just see something, and they get inspired to pick it up. Our customers are more likely to be looking for a gift book,” she says.
Papyrus has been selling books since the get-go and has always turned to Bookspeed for support with curating, sourcing and supplying their book ranges. The shop has an extensive cookbook range, complementing the popular cookshop in the basement, and is finding success with children’s books, Scottish travel titles, poetry collections, sustainable living, and books with a feminist slant. Fiona has recently expanded the amount of retail space given to books.
“Books have always punched above their weight in terms of turnover.”
“Books have always punched above their weight in terms of turnover. So, I thought why not give them more room and see where we can go with it,” Fiona says.
“We’ve always done a core range. We sell food titles – beautiful cookery books because you can get any old recipe off the internet, so we’re looking for stunning pictures, a beautiful cover and inspirational recipes. It has to be a gift book that will inspire you.
“We’ve always had a strong slant on Scottish books. Children’s books that have been translated into Scots have always sold really well for us. So that might be Harry Potter or The Gruffalo in Scots and there’s The Glasgow Gruffalo one, which Elaine C Smith penned which is absolutely hilarious. Love it!
“Some of the books that are doing well are children’s books that follow trending topics. For example, talking about feelings, mindfulness type books, or inclusiveness. In the summer, we sell a lot of outdoor books. The Art of Wild Swimming Scotland has been phenomenal!”
“It’s good to have someone in Bookspeed guiding us.”
“It’s good to have someone in Bookspeed guiding us. Charlotte, our account manager has been fantastic. We sat down together and looked at where we could go next. Our range needed refreshed and Charlotte guided us toward female-focused books. Books for women by women. So, we’re playing around with that at the moment – it’s been quite interesting.”
Before Covid, Fiona and the Papyrus team were able to give books even more of a platform in their pop-up shops. Rather than be tied to long-term leases in an unpredictable economic climate, they occupied temporary spaces in different Glasgow shopping centres, often building a bookstore within the shop.
“It was great fun. Very busy and extremely exhausting to shop-fit, trade 12-hour days and close down a large unit in three months. The bigger the unit, the more we had to fill it, and we said that’s great we’ll just have a mini bookshop within the shop and we’d fill it up with the help of Bookspeed,” recalls Fiona.
For now, shopping centre pop-ups aren’t part of Papyrus’ future plans. The ability to respond promptly to changing consumer behaviours has been an essential factor in the business’s success, so it’s the thriving local community Fiona wants to focus on.
“I think retail has come full circle in the 40 years we’ve been in business, and it’s come right back to local.”
“I think retail has come full circle in the 40 years we’ve been in business, and it’s come right back to local. The local high street had been losing business for 20 years to out-of-town shopping centres and online retail on a very steady trajectory but it’s coming back. People don’t want to get in their car and drive to a shopping a centre. Many centres are half empty because a lot of businesses have gone,” she says.
“People are not working in the city centre so much and instead they’re working and shopping locally. Now you walk down Byres Road at the weekend, and you have to navigate the crowds because there’s so many people. It’s so long since I’ve seen that. And that’s fantastic.”
