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Aug 2020

Last Updated: 27/08/2020

Business

Harrogate railway station newsagent to close

by Thomas Barrett

| 28 Aug, 2020

It will be the "end of an era" for newsagent Brian Moses who, with a heavy heart, will close the Bookstall newsagent at Harrogate Station after 30 years due to the financial impact of COVID-19.

It will be the "end of an era" for veteran newsagent Brian Moses who, with a heavy heart, will close the Bookstall newsagent at Harrogate Railway Station after 30 years due to the financial impact of covid-19.

Brian won the title of UK newsagent of the year in 2016 but he said running the business is not viable in the current economic climate.

He said with trains quiet and commuters from Leeds still working from home, he can't see trade returning to what it was before covid "for a long, long time". A changing market has also seen magazine and newspaper sales decline over the past few years, with more and more people reading online.

Brian, who is 65, has worked in newsagents in Harrogate since he was 15 but fears there will be none left in the town in just a decade.

He said:

"Many of the other newsagents that are remaining in Harrogate are up for sale and I fear for the news trade over the next ten years.

"It's not the way I intended to go out but it's time to let go. It wasn't an easy decision but financially it had to be."

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The Bookstall has been a vital pit stop for commuters taking the train from Harrogate and Brian has seen famous sports stars, TV presenters and his fair share of ex-Leeds United footballers stop in for a packet of mints, a bottle of pop or a crossword puzzle book.

But he said his most memorable customer was Prince Charles who bought copies of Horse and Hound and Country Life magazines when the Royal Train passed through Harrogate.

Brian has racked up more than 50 years in the trade as, before taking over the Bookstore in 1989, he helped his own father run a newsagent on St Winifred's Road.

Brian said news has been "a real family affair" as his son Paul also run the shop but will now move on to pastures new.

He said he will miss the customers but is looking forward to spending more time with his wife, Mandy, who recently retired as a nurse from St Michael's Hospice after 24 years.

He said:

"I've done 5 AM starts for the last 50 years, so that will take a long time to get out of that.

"But I'll miss the banter and the 'good morning' from the little old lady to friends who come in, discuss sports and have a craic. I'll miss my regulars.

"It will be sad but things have got to move on. I'm the first of many that will be going in Harrogate, it's a changing world."

The Bookstall will close this Saturday.

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Harrogate railway station newsagent to close

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