A LITERARY David and Goliath-style battle will play out in London this month when an independent Irish bookstore goes up against Waterstones for an industry award.
On May 11 the family which has run Kennys Bookshop in Galway since it was founded in 1940 will be in the capital for Britain’s annual event The Bookseller Awards.
For the first time in their 75-year history the Kenny family business has been nominated in the Book Retailer of The Year category - an honour they claim they “never expected”.
But on the night – where they will enjoy a glitzy awards ceremony at the Hilton Park Lane hotel - they will be up against three British industry stalwarts who are also shortlisted for the title.
Founded in Oxford in 1879, fellow shortlistee Blackwell’s has been providing academic and library books to a loyal customer base ever since.
It now operates 45 stores across Britain, employs 100 staff and boasts an average turnover of £77million each year.
The much smaller, but much-loved, Foyles bookstore is also up for the award.
Established in 1903, the iconic brand manages a healthy annual turnover of £22.9million with just five stores and 200 staff.
And the final contender is Waterstones – which, in 1982, was far more recently founded, but dwarves the competition with a gargantuan 275 outlets, 3,500 employees and £398.5million annual turnover.
By comparison Kennys – now an online-led business operating as Kennys.ie – boasts one outlet, 17 members of staff and a modest €2.1milion turnover.
“We never expected to be on this shortlist and we are all delighted with it, but to be honest we’d be greatly surprised if we won – have you seen who we are up against?,” Managing Director Conor Kenny told The Irish Post this week.
“But as far as we are aware we are the first ever Irish company to be nominated for the main prize in these industry awards, which is something we are very proud of,” he explained.
“We suspect – despite being totally taken aback with this nomination – that it’s because of the increased level of business that we are doing with the major wholesalers in Ireland and the UK as our website grows.”
Founded by Conor’s parents Des and Maureen Kenny on the High Street in Galway City in 1940, Kennys Bookshop became a familiar and much loved staple of the area.
In 2006, the business – now run by five of the couple’s six children, with three grandchildren included among their small team of staff – moved to new premises on the outskirts of the city in order to accommodate its growth and concentrate on selling online.
To date that venue - which comprises both retail and warehouse space and even houses an art gallery – is the headquarters for the business, which holds 500,000 titles in stock in Galway at any one time but has 5 million books readily available on its website.
The Bookseller Industry Awards take place on Monday, May 11 at the Hilton in Park Lane.
For further information about the Irish bookstore click here
