Novel has launched its new pop up home in the queen of suburbs coffee shop in Crookes.
Novel is the pop up book shop that has been around since June 2022. Starting as a stall in Walkley festival to brief pop ups in the city and now a home in Crookes; Novel aims to promote the best and most diverse books of the time.
How did Novel come about?
Novel started as a dream for co owners Katie Nixon and Joe Nixon, both 28, who wanted to be booksellers, and during the pandemic, they started making business plans and in a year finally saved enough money to start.
The pair started as a pop up in car boot sales and stalls at Walkley festival, had various pop ups in and around Sheffield city centre, settling now in Crookes, in a backroom behind The Queen of the Suburbs café.
What is the aim of the pop up?
Novel’s aim is to bring a curated selection of modern books to the community. They want to bring diverse, thought provoking and innovative books to the people of Sheffield. Every month they change up their stock and range to accommodate all readers.
And what do we know about the owners?
Katie and Joe were previously teachers but knew they wanted to do something else, and owning a small bookshop and being book sellers had always been their dream.
The thought process behind having a pop up in Crookes, out of the city centre wasn’t a hard decision for Joe and Katie.
“We’ve done pop ups in the city but they weren’t as popular as the ones in the suburbs. People really like having a small business on their doorstep or commute.
“There are already a number of bookshops in the city centre, it made more sense to have something a stone’s throw away from our house.”
Elle, the owner of the Queen of the Suburbs coffee shop, offered Novel their unused backroom to be a home for their pop up. They have been renovating the room since november and have finally launched today, just off of crookes high street.
Katie said she prefers having the small pop up out of the city because “We’re not here to make millions, we’re here to serve the community”
What are the plans for the future?
Novel are hoping to plan some more pop ups in the future, and introduce a book club around the community that they’ve already formed. There’s also hope of stocking more children’s and YA books to inspire children to read more.
Katie said: “I’ve noticed gen z are big readers, so I think I should try to reach out to that demographic more. ”
Novel will be open at the same time as Queen of the Suburbs, 7:30-3pm everyday except thursdays.