In a weekly feature, we profile a fascinating company doing business here in Islington. Though the Gazette usually objects to shopfronts with the Comic Sans font, The Children’s Bookshop in Chadwell Street gets away with it – because of its brilliant policy of selling books at just £1 a pop.
Most property developers lucky enough to own a shop unit in the heart of Islington wouldn’t think twice about converting it into a flat and watching extortionate rent flood in. Mark Dunford is different: he’d rather sell kids’ books at just £1 a pop.
Born and bred in Islington, Mark has run The Children’s Bookshop, in Chadwell Street off St John Street, for five years.
He explained: “I’m a property developer and I own this shop, and the one next door. The one next door used to be the bookshop, but the fella retired. I moved it to its current unit five years ago.
“It’s a nice family thing, and 99 per cent of the books are only £1. It’s nice to give back. If I didn’t have the freehold, I wouldn’t be able to sell them that cheap in the centre of Islington.”
As well as being a good family meeting point for Mark, he added: “I absolutely love the place. It’s something to get up for in the morning. You meet so many different people here – from parents and kids to theatregoers from Sadler’s Wells around the corner.”
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