Culture
Culture
30-60m
Travel back in time and meet Eyþór Jóvinsson and buy used books by weight.
“When I was a kid I always dreamt of being a bookseller when I’d grow up” says Eyþór, a 4th generation shop owner in Flateyri. “For a few years as a teenager it didn’t seem like a particularly cool career path, but here I am, now running the bookshop that my great grandfather started in 1914.” Taking over the oldest bookstore in Iceland wasn’t an obvious choice for architect and filmmaker Eyþór. “The shop had been struggling for several years and my family was considering closing it. Running a book shop in a village of only 250 people wasn’t a thriving business at that time, but I changed the concept slightly and it improved. Now a 1-day turnover is the same as my entire first summer!” Eyþór sells books, cups, candies, postcards and even zippers! “It’s not a tourist shop and has never been. I sell only products that I use myself and can personally recommend, stuff designed and made here in the fjord as well as quality products from abroad. It’s all sold here in the physical space and now also online. Local yet global. That’s the way forward if I want to continue to run a book shop here at the end of the world”.
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