Immediately below this introduction is an open letter delivered via email to James Daunt, the Managing Director of Waterstones Booksellers Limited and the Waterstones Press Office on the morning of the 21st of November 2025. 

Thank you again to everyone who signed, shared, and reposted this open letter to James Daunt, the Managing Director of Waterstones.

We have now received a reply and have opened up a channel of communication between us and Mr Daunt. He has acknowledged our concerns and has indicated a willingness to discuss the situation surrounding the proposed Newkirkgate Centre branch with us.

It is our our hope that these discussions will provide clarity on the situation for the affected businesses and for our community in Leith.

Watch this space for updates, we will keep you all regularly informed whenever there is any more information to share.

Thank you all again for the trust, solidarity and support you have shown us this week. You are all absolutely wonderful.

Wish us luck! We’ll see you in the bookshop soon.

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Dear James,

                        As you will now be aware, we are to receive a new branch of your chain just 65 metres from our front door. The response from authors, publishers, fellow independent bookshops and customers from around the world has been incredibly reassuring to us; demonstrating that they are just as concerned about the implications of this decision as we have been.

The consequences of this action will leave independent bookshops nationwide justifiably anxious about new branches appearing on their own doorsteps, with those in the US likewise worried that this situation could happen to them with a Barnes and Noble.

We must also ask - when there are so many areas of the city and the country underserved by bookshops both independent and chain – why the decision has been made to allocate the resources to open a sixth branch in Edinburgh, in an area that is already well served by several independent bookshops within walking, bus, and tram distance? 

We have co-existed successfully with Waterstones’ previous branch in Leith’s Ocean Terminal Centre but the proximity of this new location to so many thriving independent businesses already offering the services you now also intend to provide raises questions that we feel must be answered.

Your company’s statement to the press on the 18th of November claimed that Waterstones had planned for this new location under the “misunderstanding” of our business as “a specialty shop with a focus on gaming and horror” in order to explain your reasoning for the chosen location.

We are, and always have been, a general bookshop with full, curated sections including, but not limited to: Food & Drink, Philosophy, History, Poetry, Art & Design, a thoughtfully curated children’s section of over 2,000 distinct titles, Literary Fiction, Nature Writing, Politics, Romance, and much more.

This lack of understanding of our offer - which could have been clarified with a simple internet search or a visit in person - speaks volumes to both a lack of research done into the area and a lack of care for the livelihoods, stockholdings and communities of existing bookshops and independent businesses.

Since 2018, Waterstones has benefitted from the goodwill generated by your statement in response to the question of whether the company would open up new stores in areas which already have thriving independents:

“Absolutely not. We will not be operating in a predatory way. Independent book shops have their place. It’s big chains like Waterstones who need to be responsible”

Customers have taken you at your word on this issue and have shown support to both your shops and your brand based on this principle.

We believe the business decision to open a location so close to an established independent constitutes a clear violation of your above commitment and can only be read as exemplary of the predatory practices you claimed you would avoid.

Leith values collaboration and community, it is what keeps our neighbourhood so vibrant. By opening a new location with limited research and understanding of the area that you wish to serve, you have made a poor first impression on those who live, work and shop around the Foot of the Walk.

We will not be the only local business affected by this new branch. Your stockholdings of gift cards, wrapping paper, board games and other non-book lines will disrupt the trade of numerous independent shops who rely on these items for their livelihoods.

We call on you now to reverse your decision - based on a misunderstanding of our offer - to open this store in this location and to consider both the importance of statements you have previously given and the perception of your business going forward by the consumer.

To open this branch here in Leith - so close to us – signals a significant change in direction of Waterstones’ priorities as a company and what all bookshops and customers are to expect from your brand in the future. 

Kind regards from the Foot of the Walk,

Argonaut Books

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We would like to thank each and every one of the people who have contributed the support, time, energy, and solidarity from across the city, country and the world.

We especially want to thank the tireless and brilliant booksellers working in Waterstones stores across the country who have reached out to us in solidarity.

We’ll see you in the bookshop.