AN independent bookshop which opened last year in one of Craven’s tourist hotspots is bucking the industry trend of recent years by quietly flourishing, say its owners.

The Stripey Badger, in Grassington, is one of 15 new independent bookshops to open last year across the country, and its success has been recently highlighted both in a national newspaper and on BBC television.

It opened its doors in August last year, next to its sister company teashop in The Square, and new figures from the Booksellers’ Association show that the number of independent bookshops has gone up for the second year in a row.

Bookshops generally had been in serious decline for well over a decade, with the demise of several high street chains, including Ottakar’s, Dillon’s and Borders, largely down to the gradual growth of internet shopping.

But Stripey Badger’s Linda Furniss, who co-owns the business with her son James Firth, maintains that the future is looking much brighter for the independents - precisely because they are based firmly in their communities.

She explained: “There is no doubt we have to work on events and being part of the community to have a strong and viable business.

“We have had three author signings so far, an auction of second-hand books with funds going to the Community Hub and finally, we will be the festival bookshop for the very popular Grassington Festival.

“Being an independent bookshop today means coming from behind the counter to hand-sell books; talking and listening to your customers; providing events that people will enjoy; stocking local author books; surprising with the unusual book on your shelves - and offering a first-class book ordering service with perks. Fortunately, that is the type of bookshop we enjoy being.”

Linda added that the shop had quickly built up a regular clientele, with customers travelling from across North Yorkshire and Lancashire, and has also benefitted from being located in a popular town for tourists.

Speaking just before the Stripey Badger opened in August, Linda told the Herald: “Nothing beats browsing through the shelves of an independent bookshop and the advice, support and brilliant service you’ll receive with a friendly smile will all be part of our day.”

Until two years ago the number of bookshops across Britain had declined every year since 1995, when there were 1,894 independent bookshops.

Twenty years later that number had more than halved. But the recent yearly increase, to a total of 883, though relatively small in national terms, could indicate a significant sustainable upswing in the fortunes of the independents, the Booksellers’ Association believes.