UK high street shop critics said was 'dead in a ditch' opening dozens new stores in 2025

A UK high street shop that was once called "dead in a ditch" is now set to open "dozens" of new stores in 2025 as other retailers shut up shop amidst tough competition with online sellers. Waterstones is riding the waves of TikTok book trends and saw great success during the most recent period. Now, the book shop chain is set to open more than 12 new stores in the UK following the busy festive period.

opened 12 new stores across the UK in 2024, said boss James Daunt, calling it a "really significant expansion". He announced in January of this year that the company plans to "do more" in 2025 with plans for further expansion. The upwards trajectory comes years after Waterstones was reportedly on the brink of closure, which was the case when Daunt joined the company in 2011. The book chain boss previously said that Waterstones was "dead in a ditch" and that the business "came within a millisecond of losing everything".

However, things have turned around for Waterstones and the company is enjoying significant growth despite the rise in e-books and online retailers.

Daunt revealed in a 2024 interview with Finacial Times that Waterstones plans to match or exceed its number of openings last year. The retailer has not yet announced where these new stores will open. The Daily Express has contacted Waterstones for comment.

Waterstones has over 290 stores across the UK and and continues to enjoy great success, partially due to the rise of book trends on social media platforms like TikTok. Waterstones has taken full advantage of 'BookTok' trends, hosting a BookTok festival at Waterstones Piccadilly last year.

At the event, one staff member told The Observer: "I can't stress how much BookTok sells books."

The revealed: "The demographic is almost exclusively teenage girls, but the power it has is huge. We have a 'BookTok recommended' table - and you can tell which books are trending by the speed at which they sell."

While social media trends contribute significantly to the success of book sales, Waterstines still faces difficulties that bosses say come as a result of Brexit. Daunt said that it "remains the biggest pain, adds to the cost and complexity and made our labour situation worse."