Arya D’Cruz
Chester is cosy, lively, and almost always buzzing with news of a new shop opening around the corner. If there is one thing that Chester gets right, it’s shopping. I have good and bad news for the book lovers of Chester. The good news is that Chester is now home to two new bookshops, with another one coming along very soon. The bad news is that they are bound to make your pockets hurt.
Chapters
Two best friends are making their childhood dream come true. A concept inspired by the glamorous bookshops in New York – A bookshop and wine bar.
Megan Nicolaides and Megan Yapp, often referred to as the ‘Megans’, have found a home for their bookshop, Chapters, in Chester. Hoping to open this summer, Nicolaides says they have got the most gorgeous spot for their dream, but they are keeping it under wraps until everything is ready.
The Megans grew up together in Wirral with a shared love for books and believe they are ready for the true test of friendship by starting a business together. Yapp and Nicolaides have found a complementary business relationship. Yapp, who runs an accounting firm in Wirral, takes care of the numbers, while Nicolaides, who is from a marketing background, pours her share of skills into the business.
Having seen the concept of book bars in New York, Megan Nicolaides was in a trance when she got the chance to visit one. As soon as she walked in, she felt the “magic of a bookshop” and wondered why there wasn’t one near where she lives already. Yapp and Nicolaides, during a wine-induced dinner conversation, came up with the plan to start it on their own. There are a couple of bookshop bars in the UK now. With their shared obsession for books and their love for wine, the Megans realised that this is their ultimate dream hangout spot, so they would create one for themselves.
Although the bookshop bar is planning to open in summer 2025, at the latest by August, the sneak peek for Chapters is available to buy as an at-home experience. Chapters webpage is already selling a taste of the store in a box that includes a seasonal book, a non-alcoholic drink and a few other bookish items.
For more insight into Chapters, the Megans and behind the scenes of starting a small business, listen here
Books on the Walls
Books on the Walls is hard to find, both on the internet and in real life, and that’s what makes this little bookshop café tucked away in a corner special.
Located on Chester’s historic walls, this bookshop has one rule – no phones. Walking into the store, books line the walls of the store, record players are stacked on tables, a collection of games sits on one side of the store and behind the counter is the iconic ‘no phones’ sign like in Luke’s Diner from Gilmore Girls. The seats of the store are placed so that customers can talk to each other and unwind without any technology. Books on the Wall focuses on the connection of people and books rather than with the store itself.
Books on the Wall is a showcase for authors and publishers from the North-West and also dedicates a section of its bookshelf to writers from just Chester. The store also hosts free book-related events every Saturday.
Outside the world of technology, people find Books on the Walls through word of mouth; they come to unwind in the world of literature and human connection. Books on Walls’ purpose is for people to come in and leave a part of themselves to create the bookshop in itself. Every book lover, author, poet, artist and person who visits the bookshop weaves together to become Books on the Wall.
Aldous Books
Steve Aldous and Gina Aldous have owned Aldous Books in Liverpool for a year now, and having lived just 30 minutes outside of Chester town centre, they felt it necessary to bring the magic of Aldous Books to Chester in 2025.
Hidden in an alleyway right behind the Chester Cathedral, Aldous Books is small in size, but it makes up for it with its array of books.
Steve and Gina have not yet found Chester’s book lovers’ niche to primarily focus on stocking up. So for now, they have about 35 different topics, including Chester local history. A wooden table in the centre of the store displays a carefully curated collection of rare books. “Antiquarian books, so anything over 100 years old. We have books from about the 1740s. I sold a Milton’s Paradise Lost from 1747. We’ve got a copy on the table of a Dore book that there are only four of them for sale in the whole world.”
Aldous Books only sells pre-loved books. A carefully selected collection of rare books and other second-hand books is sold to find new homes. “Another quirky thing that we like to do is keep the notes that sometimes people have written in their book, and/or sometimes there are little slips of paper in them as well. I think that adds something to the book’s history as well,” said Steve.
The worst part about any big bookshop is that you cannot browse every single book. Aldous Books is a cosy book nook that makes you feel a close connection to the books. “This is the size of the shop that you can go up and down each one until you potentially find something. It doesn’t take all day to do that either.” Said Steve when describing his Chester store, which is comparatively smaller than the one Steve and Gina run in Liverpool.
