Waterstones apologises as it explains 'baffling' location of new Leith store in Edinburgh

The company said it had signed a lease on a new site in Edinburgh’s Leith district following the closure of its long-standing store at Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre, which is being redeveloped.

However, Adam Barclay, owner of Argonaut Books that opened on Leith Walk four years ago, said the decision to open a rival store so close to his business would hit trade. He has called for the chain to reconsider its plans.

The new Waterstones shop will be located in the Newkirkgate Centre in Leith, in a building previously used by the British Heart Foundation for a specialist electrical goods and furniture store.

Waterstones previously had a branch at Ocean Terminal, around a mile away, which is being partially demolished.

Waterstones took the step of issuing an apology to Mr Barclay for “not having been in touch”. But the chain insisted it believed Argonaut, which says on its website it holds a “varied and curated stock”, and Waterstones would “complement each other”.

Mr Barclay said he did not understand why the landlords of the site had signed a lease on what he dubbed “a pointless addition to the area”.

The Newkirkgate Centre is home to a Poundstretcher, as well as a branch of supermarket chain Lidl. In August, two benches were removed from the centre by the council in a bid to reduce anti-social behaviour in the area, but were later reinstated after a public backlash.

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Mr Barclay said: “We are from Leith, we live in Leith and we couldn't countenance doing this anywhere else. We have survived the tail end of lockdown, economic slumps, an already rocky outlook for the retail industry, and two years of relentless and disruptive tramworks.

“Despite this, we paid the Real Living Wage throughout, paid our taxes and established ourselves on the basic principles of the right to respect at work. We could not have made it through these challenges without the support and encouragement of a vibrant and engaged community, which has sprung up around the shop, a community to whom we owe everything.

“It was with much surprise then that we learned, and not directly from Waterstones themselves, that the UK's biggest book chain was moving in literally steps from our front door."

He added: "Why does a chain like Waterstones feel like we have any need of them or their services in Leith? Why would we let this money leave our local economy and disappear?

“An independent bookshop can - and will - provide a better, more personal, more local service than they could ever hope to. They clearly have not done their market research or they would have noticed that there is an established and thriving independent bookshop within 100m of their new location. This is, and will always be, a bookshop city. And Waterstones will only ever be guests here.

“We would seriously urge Waterstones to reconsider its baffling business decision to set up next to us and enter into a leasehold partnership with the new owners of the Newkirkgate.”

A spokesperson for Waterstones said: "Leith is a community which Waterstones has proudly served for many years, and we were very disappointed to lose our shop in Ocean Terminal due to the redevelopment.

"We signed a lease on a new shop to replace this some time ago and at this point we understood Argonaut Books to be a speciality shop with a focus on horror and gaming. Our shop will be a general bookshop, as before. We apologise to the Argonaut Books team for not having been in touch before we announced the new shop, and we are sorry for any upset this has caused.”

The spokesperson added: "We have reached out directly to Argonaut Books and we are confident that both bookshops will complement each other to serve the readers of Leith in their unique ways, as they did prior to our Ocean Terminal shop closing."

Posting on social media, commercial property firm Cited said: “We’re delighted to confirm completion of a deal to bring Waterstones to the ground floor of Unit 4C at the Newkirkgate in Leith, with the incumbent tenant set to vacate in November 2025.

“This is a fantastic addition to the scheme introducing a quality national retailer and a fresh new use for the space.”