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How Kennys became the second bookshop in the world to sell online: ‘We have relationships with the writers — that’s the difference between us and Amazon’

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How Kennys became the second bookshop in the world to sell online: ‘We have relationships with the writers — that’s the difference between us and Amazon’

In 1994, the iconic Galway shop started selling online – the first Irish retailer to do so and a year before Amazon entered the market. Now, 30 years on, the storied family business still prides itself on its personal touch and respect for writers

Tom Kenny of Kennys Bookshop and Art Galleries in Galway. Photo: Ray Ryan

It’s ‘Colm Tóibín Day’ in Kennys bookstore, and there’s a low but constant hum at the back of a warehouse in Galway’s Liosbán Industrial Estate.

A casual browser could well be oblivious to the activity behind the bookshelves, where a team is busy folding recently published hardbacks in cardboard sleeves and binding them with packing tape.

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