A beloved store in Wincanton dedicated to the work of Terry Pratchett has announced that it will be closing its doors “for the foreseeable future.”
The Discworld Emporium on the High Street has drawn fans of the fantasy author from afar since it opened in 2000.
Still, boutique co-founders Bernard and Isobel Pearson announced their brick-and-mortar store was “on a long hiatus” and “will remain closed to the public for the foreseeable future” in a statement posted on their website.
Read more: Acceptance of the sale of Terry Pratchett’s former home in Somerset
They noted that their mail order service had “expanded exponentially”, particularly since the coronavirus pandemic struck.
This side of the business is “busier than ever” and has caused the store to transform into “an incredibly frantic mailroom”.
The important Wincanton High Street building will remain in place, where the team will design and ship Discworld merchandise “behind closed doors”.
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The statement also noted that Mr and Mrs Pearson took the foreclosure opportunity offered to step away from operating the shop and have a taste of retirement life.
The statement reads: “In their thirtieth year of founding Discworld and with a combined age of 155, this indomitable duo believe that now is the time to step away from shop duties and enjoy their twilight years in the company of fine gin, books and small children.
“They will of course remain a large part of the Emporium and the Discworld family as a whole, and while you may not be able to get rid of Bernard that easily, we hope you all understand their need for a little more time. in their lives and that you will join us in wishing them an incredibly happy and well-deserved retirement!
They added that with a small team, resources need to be dedicated to running the website and responding to their global customer base.
The High Street store has attracted fans of the fantasy author since it opened in 2000 (Image: Google Maps)
The statement added: “While this news may be very sad for many who have made or dreamed of a pilgrimage from Pratchett to Wincanton, after two decades of Emporium, thirty years since our inception of the first Record Merchandise- World and fifty years since the publication of Terry’s First Novel, there is much to celebrate and look forward to this year.
They concluded by thanking their visitors and supporters “for making our little literary shop such a special place” over the years.
The Discworld Emporium and Ankh-Morpork Consulate donated Terry Pratchett’s extensive bibliography as well as Discworld jewelry, prints and gifts for enthusiastic fans.
The store is ranked as the best shopping attraction in Wincanton on TripAdvisor, with 5/5 rave reviews.
One reviewer described a trip from the United States on a “long-awaited pilgrimage” to visit the Wincanton store, as well as Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral.
Another reviewer described being left speechless as finally being able to visit the Discworld Emporium in person.
They said, “It was everything I hoped for and more. We were able to have a long conversation with Bernard and hear his absolutely wonderful stories about the store, Sir Terry and life in general.
“Being big fans, my [partner] and I was pretty emotional after the stories and cheered myself up by spending as much money as I could. This shop is a utopia for a Discworld fan and everyone should visit it at least once!
The Discworld Emporium designs and creates original Discworld collectibles, ensuring they are authentic to Sir Terry Pratchett’s novels.
They worked closely with the writer himself from their inception, which was “long before geek culture exploded into the mainstream”.
Their website answers the question “Why Wincanton?” “, Saying” by signing the deeds, Terry said we would be close enough to work with, but not too close to be a nuisance, and we couldn’t argue with that “.
Wincanton officially paired up with Ankh-Morpork in 2002, in a rare case of a town twinning with a fictional location.
The store now works in collaboration with Narrativia, the production company created by Sir Pratchett to protect the legacy of his fiction.
They said, “It was rather tickling for Terry to have a store dedicated to his books, a place where his fans could meet and celebrate Discworld, often with the author himself.
“If Terry wanted something to be made from his work, we would, and he often used the creation of goods as research for his books.
“The Emporium hopes to continue to make the little pieces of the Discworld real enough to touch, and to send valuable packages of Discworld merchandise to every nook and cranny of the world long into the future. “
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Source: www.somersetlive.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-07-02 11:04:33
