In 2008, Fenella Holt and her husband Ed, a well-known yacht photographer, moved from Mallorca to Antibes, where she started working as a sales assistant at Heidi’s English Bookshop in the old town.
Some three years later, owner Heidi Lee made the decision to close down after 25 years and Fenella was made redundant. “I realised that there was an opportunity to fill the gap left behind,” says Fenella. “I’d learned enough during my time there to risk it. I reckoned that if I could find the exact right location, I could make a successful business, and that’s what happened!”
She took on the locale of the defunct Catholic bookshop, La Procure, at 13 rue Georges Clemenceau and it could not have been better placed. “Everyone goes up and down this street, no matter where they are headed.”
And so, on Valentine’s Day 2015, Fenella officially opened the new Antibes Books with
Merde! author Stephen Clarke on hand for a book signing. At time Fenella commented, “I
can’t imagine ever wanting to go back to London.”
Fenella says she has hosted some wonderful authors for events at Antibes Books. “We
laughed ourselves silly with Celia Imrie – twice. Stephen Clark was a hoot, and the late,
lovely, (normally grumpy) Henning Mankell gave me the biggest bouquet of roses you ever saw on opening day.”
There have been visits and impromptu signings with Rick Stein, Rod Stewart, Hugh Grant,
Sharon Stone –and her favourite regular – Pete Townshend.
And now, most unfortunately, Fenella is suffering from a chronic health disorder and the time has come to sell the beloved shop. “I want Antibes Books to continue to thrive. I won’t divulge stuff about the business itself here, anyone interested can contact me directly. Suffice to say that it’s very healthy, I am earning an excellent living and that I am willing to train a new owner in every aspect of the business, if needed.
“Also, we are just about to launch our new home delivery service. We trialled this during
Covid and it was a hit, as I expect it will be again. Thanks to this new legislation, we can be truly competitive when compared to the big online stores.”
Fenella Holt is happy to speak with potential bookshop owners.
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