Bookshops to take on 'Black Friday' with 'Civilised Saturday'

Around 100 bookshops have signed up to the initiative, which will take place a day after the US-inspired discount day.

The idea was thought up by Tim Walker, the president of The Booksellers Association, which said the event was intended as a restorative to Black Friday, “the now-traditional retail scrum” that kicks off the Christmas shopping season.

It told book retailers: “Civilised Saturday is your chance to create your own event, then invite your customers into your bookshop after Black Friday, to spend relaxed time in a calm space, to offer great gift ideas, give advice and recommendations and reinforce your bookshop as a great place for Christmas gift buying.”

Dulwich Books in West Dulwich will be treating its customers to afternoon tea, winter Pimm’s and homemade cakes, while Wenlock Books in Shropshire will welcome each customer with a glass of Prosecco.

Some of the nation’s bigger bookshops will also take part, with Waterstones holding a ‘Civilised Saturday’ event at its Oxford branch, while some branches of Foyles will be offering discounts.

As bookshops set out to launch a tranquil alternative to Black Friday, there were signs that the appeal of pushing and shoving your way to a discounted television may be waning somewhat.

Wal-Mart owned supermarket retailer Asda recently announced that it had decided to opt out of Black Friday this year, citing “shopper fatigue” over the event.

It said customer feedback was behind the decision to invest in £26m of savings for shoppers rather than take part in the one-day event.

Meanwhile, fashion retailer Jigsaw has decided not to take part in the event, while Fat Face has taken a completely different approach, pledging instead to donate £250,000 to charities local to its store.