The Shop

How to find us:

By bus: King's Road (Duke Of York's Square)11, 19, 22, 211, 319

The nearest Underground station is Sloane Square (District and Circle Lines), from which we are a few minutes' walk. Leaving the station behind you, cross Sloane Square.  Keep straight on and you will come into the King's Road.  Once in the King's Road, Blacklands Terrace is the second right after the department store Peter Jones.

We are open from 9.30 to 5.30, Monday to Saturday, and stay open till 7.30 every Wednesday evening.  On Sundays, we are open from 12.00 to 6.oo, except for Bank Holiday weekends, where we are closed both Sunday and Monday - we do, however, remain open on the Saturday prior to the holiday.

John Sandoe started this shop in 1957.  Before that, these premises were partly devoted to the grooming of poodles.  The other half was a junkshop, where books were sold by weight.  In 1989 the shop was sold to members of staff.  Since then, the business has grown and moved with the times, but it remains essentially the same - an independent literary bookshop with many regular customers.

We are on three floors of an eighteenth century building.  Books crammed in everywhere, up the stairs and piled on tables.  No surface escapes its burden, except a few seats, and computer keyboards.  And a few pathways - yes, you can get up the stairs provided you are fit.

In this limited space we have about 25,000 books.  Newcomers are inclined to ask if there is any system to the arrangement.  (There is, but it requires experience to crack it.) It is a delight for browsers, a bibliophile's heaven.

We have 4 full-time and 2 part-time staff to serve our customers.  We also pack books on the premises, to be sent to people who have placed orders in person, or by fax, phone or e-mail.  They know that we will try to get any book at all, wherever published, even if out of print.