Leeds bookshop celebrates almost 14 years of books, prints and ‘unusual finds’
This independent bookshop is perhaps a little different from your typical high street store
There is something special about being able to pick up a book, flick through its pages and get completely absorbed in another world.
A Leeds independent bookshop has been bringing books, prints and unusual finds to the city for almost 14 years - and its founders believe the love of physical reading is far from dead.
Becky Palfrey and her husband Andy Gray opened Colours May Vary in November 2012 after struggling to find somewhere in Leeds selling the kind of things they wanted to buy themselves.
The business began at Monroe House, before eventually finding a home Leeds Corn Exchange, where it has been based for the past five years.
Becky said she had always wanted to be in the historic building, and they “absolutely love” being provided with a community of independent businesses that support one another.
The shop is perhaps a little different from your typical high street bookshop.
Around 60% of its stock is made up of books and magazines, with the rest made up of prints, stationary and carefully selected homeware.
There are no novels lining its shelves. Instead, customers will find books covering everything from design and folklore to politics and other more specialist subjects.
And while the way people consume media has changed dramatically since the shop opened 14 years ago, Becky does not think the love of physical books has disappeared.
She told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “We do feel that people, even students, are wanting physical media and they’re wanting to put down their digital devices and read.”
When Colours May Vary first opened, Becky remembers hearing predictions that “print is dead” as e-readers became increasingly popular.
But Becky said she does not believe that prediction has come true.
For her, the appeal of reading is about much more than simply having a physical book in your hands.
“One of the things about reading and printed media especially, is that it gets you into a world which absorbs you and removes you from reality,” she said.
She believes that escape is particularly important for children, giving them the chance to step away from screens and discover new worlds.
It is a message that ties closely with the Yorkshire Evening Post’s Leeds Reads campaign, launched earlier this year alongside the national year of reading, to encourage children across the city to keep reading and to support local libraries.
“We all, children and adults, need that time to remove ourselves from stimulus, and discover these new worlds,” Becky told the YEP.
That sense of discovery will also be celebrated with the return of Ilkley Literature Festival from October 2-18, bringing authors among the likes of Jaqueline Wilson and Simon Armitage across the region.
Becky believes literature festivals and author events are important in keeping that connection with books alive.
“Having author events like this is a really great thing for our city,” she added.
Colours May Vary has embraced the same idea, combining its books with exhibitions and events, with two more planned before Christmas.
After almost 14 years, Becky says it's the people who walk through the door that remain her favourite thing about the job.
“It’s meeting people that we would never have met otherwise,” she said.
“Every time we do something new we meet a new set of people, it’s just amazing, and that’s why I love what we do.”