New independent bookshop serving coffee and cake to open in Timberhill
Bookbugs and Dragon Tales is opening in the coming weeks on Norwich's Timberhill. Picture: Archant - Credit: Archant
A new independent bookshop is to open in Norwich selling largely children's books as well as offering tea and cake to shoppers.
Dan and Leanna Fribb are opening a new bookshop in Norwich, in the former Hyde's furniture store. Picture: Dan Fribb - Credit: Dan Fribb
Husband-and-wife team Dan and Leanne Fridd have taken over the former Hyde's furniture store on Timberhill.
The owners will also host an adult-fiction section and a reading den for young adults.
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Mr Fridd, who works in the bookkeeping industry in a position with Bertram Books, said: "I came to love books because I train up bookkeepers and help them with the systems and software to open their shops. My wife has always been an avid reader and we realised over the past five years that this is something we would love to do."
On top of this, they will be offering coffee and cake to shoppers, as well as hosting a drama club at weekends.
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"Both Leanne and I are really involved in the theatre scene in Norwich. Leanne is the co-founder of Second Side Theatre and I work with the Common Lot which recently put on an interactive play around Norwich," Mr Fridd said.
"We know that buying a book is more than just having it, it's about the experience of buying books and reading, which is why we wanted to offer more than just a retail experience."
A workshop space within the bookshop means that the store will also be able to offer baby poetry reading sessions and workshops for teens on cyber bullying and social media security.
Mrs Fridd is a former performing arts lecturer at City College Norwich.
"Leanne was always really interested in the safeguarding of students and she wanted to continue with that and offer teens a safe place," he said.
The pair have invested £50,000 into the store which will be opening in the near future, named Bookbugs & Dragon Tales.
"Thanks to my position with Betram I have access to lots of data which tells us about which independent books are selling the best and to who. All the indicators so far have been that it'll be a success, we're already having people poking their head around the door and saying they can't wait for it to open," Mr Fridd said.
