Topping & Company York sneak peak ahead of opening

The images show some of the books people will soon be able to browse in the new Topping & Company store, on the corner of Blake Street and Museum Street.

Director Saskia Topping said they could not wait to fling open the doors and reveal a space so big that a map has been produced to help people get around.

It comes ahead of the store’s opening later this week, with the day soon to be confirmed.

RECOMMENDED READING:

The opening follows works to transform the building which has stood empty for around four years after the Visit York tourism body moved out.

York councillors approved the company’s plans to convert the 19th Century building in July 2025.

Company founder Robert Topping told councillors it would be the largest independent bookshop to open anywhere in the country in living memory.

Topping & Company was founded in 2002 when it opened its first shop in Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Shelves with science fiction and fantasy books in the Topping & Company bookshop, in Museum Street, York (Image: Topping & Company)

It now has stores in Bath, Edinburgh and St Andrews, along with the store which is soon to open in York.

Scaffolding previously on the side of the York building has now come down and hanging signs bearing the company’s blue and yellow branding have been installed.

Several events with authors have been held elsewhere in York in the previous months and more are planned once the store opens.

Company director Ms Topping told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) moving their stock of books into the York store alone had taken four weeks.

She added people could expect to find a wide collection range of books available to browse and buy.

The director said: “We can’t wait to welcome everyone in to the bookshop towards the end of this week.

Shelves with romance books in the Topping & Company bookshop, in Museum Street, York (Image: Topping & Company)

“We’ve had lots of friendly faces peering in the windows whilst we’ve been getting the books on the shelves – it will be wonderful to fling open the doors and show everyone the space at long last.

“It’s taken us four weeks to get all the books on the shelves, and hopefully in the right order.

“It’s such a big, labyrinthine space that one of our booksellers has drawn a map to help everyone find the right sections.

“We consider ourselves to be range booksellers – for us, there’s great joy in browsing a bookshop and not just finding the popular new titles, but a whole range of brilliant books that have been published in decades past, alongside those from smaller publishers that you might not find elsewhere.

“We want our bookshops to be spaces of discovery, in which you can spend hours browsing the shelves.”