The Mainstreet Trading Company
The Mainstreet Trading Company is based in the beautiful Scottish Borders village of St Boswells and is a destination in itself. Back in 2008, husband and wife team, Bill & Rosamund de la Hey renovated a former auction house, to create a light and airy space filled with books and the smell of coffee greets you in our café.
In 2012, work was completed in the barn behind the main shop to create Mainstreet Deli & Home, launched by Tom Kitchin. 2018 marked our 10th birthday at Mainstreet, we had an amazing year, culminating in winning Britain’s Best Small Shop.
As a very rural business, it was always essential to give people lots of reasons to visit, spend time, relax and enjoy the space, hence books, café, deli & home. The shop also run a lively events programme, driven by the publishing calendar, but also by the fun of championing books and authors we love like Maggie O’Farrell and Michael Morpurgo among many many others.
As far as we know, our retail mix is unique in the UK, and, since lockdown, we’ve added our online shop to the business (though this is very much a work in progress).
· Author events/pop-up dining
· Book Subscriptions
· Book Tokens
· Mainstreet Vouchers
· Online shopping
· Monthly Book Groups (daytime & evening)
· Book range of over 7,000 in store & 750,000 available for next day delivery
· School book fairs
· Coffee loyalty card
· Customer parking
· Dog friendly café & bookshop (not the deli where food is displayed at ‘nose height’)
We pride ourselves on customer service and engagement with our local community, running two book clubs at the shop, and hosting a teachers group. The latter was set up to help plan our Authors into Schools events programme – back in 2015, we purchased a beautiful renovated Citroen H Van to serve as a mobile bookshop. The stated aim of the programme is to ensure that every child in the Scottish Borders meets a real, live author at least once during their school life through our van programme – bringing authors, children and bookshops together, breaking down barriers.
The food side of the business is focused on the best suppliers, local and national, Bill (who runs the food side of the business) loves to champion small makers across the UK, a former photographer, he’s well qualified for the job having been a judge on the World Cheese Awards for several years.
We are all about experience. The pleasure of discovering, be it books, homeware, cheese or just the best scones you’ve ever tasted.
Trade memberships / Awards / Qualifications
The Booksellers Association
The Guild of Fine Food
Contact
Main Street, St Boswells, nr Melrose, Scottish Borders, TD6 0AT
Telephone: 01835 824087
Email: info@mainstreetbooks.co.uk
Website: www.mainstreetbooks.co.uk
Social Media
Twitter: @mainstreethare
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mainstreet.Trading.Company
Instagram: @mainstreethare
Tripadvisor: Main Street Trading Company
