Serenity Booksellers craft their own chapter in Romiley’s community 

While Stockport’s town centre is undergoing a massive plan of investment and an ambitious regeneration scheme, its surrounding ‘villages’, revered for their diverse communities, are also attracting new businesses, such as Serenity Booksellers.  

Home to many independent businesses, one of Romiley’s most recent successes is Serenity Booksellers. Opened in April 2023 by husband-and-wife team Chris & Kelly Willocks, the ‘bookshop’ has quickly established itself as a vital asset for the local residents of Romiley and the surrounding area.

As Kelly explained, they were not going to miss out on the chance to open their own bookstore, within their own community:

 “I am passionate about books and have over a decade of experience in book retailing back in my home country of Australia. Romiley is our home; we live here, our girls attend the local school and there was no local bookshop.

“We were having a coffee in Mellors when we noticed the shop across the road was for lease. It was here that the year after, Will Mellor was in the café filming a video for One Stockport, to encourage people to support local businesses.

“It seemed the perfect space to fulfil our vision, so we seized the opportunity to open our family-owned, indie bookshop and, after a mini regeneration project, here we are!

“Our store is a treasure trove of gifts, handmade art and books on various topics, including fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, and more. With ample parking and wide aisles for parents with prams and wheelchair access all on one level, we hope that everyone can find something wonderful.”

 Book Club creates Community Hub

But as well as housing a treasure trove of books and gifts, Chris & Kelly wanted Serenity to become a community hub, to give everyone of all ages the chance to enjoy books in a social setting. And so, the next chapter in their story began with the launch of their Book Club. The first session attracted 12 eager readers; just a year on and the Book Club now has over 150 signed up members.

 Chris takes up the story:

 “The Book Club regularly attracts 20-30 per session so we have spread them out with 2 sessions on a Tuesday morning and 2 sessions on a Thursday evening. Kelly puts forward 6-8 choices for our members to vote on. They all read the same book and 5 weeks later, meet again to discuss the book and to share their opinions.

“It’s very humbling to see how we have been welcomed by so many of our residents and of all ages. We held the first Book Club session in the shop but as the numbers quickly grew, we’ve been able to share our success with our neighbours. The Grapevine Barine, just a couple of doors down from us, hosts one of our book club meetings and we have held our author events at local venues, including at St, Paul’s Church, Compstall where 175 people attended to hear celebrated author Ann Cleeves.

“Certainly, one of the highlights of setting up Serenity Booksellers has been to see the people around us making connections, new friendships and meeting like-minded book lovers coming together at our events and clubs, especially after the pandemic which made socialising and making new friends all the more difficult, and the knock-on effects of peoples mental health from that.”

At a time when online stores and High Street names are dominating the market, it is reassuring to see that there is a desire to support local, independent shops who offer a more rounded experience and a personal touch.

 Kelly continues:

 “Accessibility is a big thing for us, so everything is on one floor with wide aisles for wheelchairs and pushchairs.

“We like to mix things up a bit too. Our 1/4ly ‘Noir at the Bookshop & Bar’ events are run in partnership with local author, Chris McDonald and Grapevine Bar, and we are planning lots more events for this year and into 2025. Within our wonderful community, we have lovers of Crime Fiction and, alongside Harper Collins published Author Chris McDonald who also writes under pen name Chris Frost, we are hosting the northwest’s 1^st Crime Fiction Festival at Stockport Masonic Hall next February. We’ll be gathering 23 authors in one day with talks, Q&A’s and book signings from celebrated authors including bestsellers, award-winners and up and coming talent from across the north of England and the rest of the country.

“And not forgetting our younger audiences, we host Storytime for under 5s in the bookshop on a Saturday morning at 11am – no need to book – and we are working with local schools to introduce children to popular authors and their books, including bringing authors to Stockport schools, like Children’s Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and much-loved Rob Biddulph (Draw with Rob) earlier this year.”

If you’d like to visit Serenity Booksellers, find out about joining the Book Club or see what events are coming up, visit their website

Below are a list of the events coming up and the event link to buy tickets

• Book launch with Margaret Murphy (M. K. Murphy) – Wed 11 Sep 2024, 6:00PM
• In Conversation with Harry Whittaker – Fri 13 Sep 2024, 6:00PM
• In Conversation with Peter James – Wed 18 Sep 2024, 7:30PM
• Noir at the Bookshop and Bar – Fri 20 Sep 2024, 7:00PM
• In Conversation with Tawseef Khan – Wed 25 Sep 2024, 6:00PM
• In Conversation with Andy Spinoza – 10 Oct 2024, 6:00PM
• C. J. Skuse in Conversation with Chris McDonald – Mon 21 Oct 2024, 6:00PM
• In Conversation with Kate Mosse – Sun 3 Nov 2024, 7:30PM
• Stockport Noir – Crime Fiction Festival Sat 8 Feb 2025, 9:15AM – 6:00PM