The Book Warehouse has acquired the the lease for The Travel Bookshop on Portobello Road. The bookshop, established in 1979, recently fell into administration, closing its doors last Sunday. The Book Warehouse, which is the Capital’s largest Independent book retailer, reached an agreement today to acquire the lease on the premises in Blenheim Crescent.
The Travel Bookshop was made famous by the 1999 film hit Notting Hill. It was the backdrop for the on-screen romance between Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. On Tuesday, actor Alec Baldwin, who played Roberts' boyfriend in the film tweeted about the shop's predicament and people volunteered to work for free to save the book shop.
The Book Warehouse managing director James Malin said: ‘”We will continue selling books in the same traditional manner as The Travel Bookshop from these famous premises and will offer not only travel books, but a much larger range of books and gifts from the shop - and at very competitive and reduced prices. Sadly, bookselling has become an endangered profession but we are doing our best to preserve the art. We hope the Notting Hill community and tourists from around the world will continue to support us”.
The shop is now trading again and the new owners look forward to welcoming you down. The bookshop has been a fixture in the area for 32 years and is an important tourist attraction. How it turns out for the future, remains to be seen.
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