SH-Heart-Logo-RGB-1024x943
Get To Know Local Business

Shop Hartlepool Blog

Welcome to the Shop Hartlepool blog, a great place to find out more about the amazing businesses signed up to Shop Hartlepool.

We want to shout about Hartlepool’s success stories and introduce you to the new kids on the block. You’ll find behind the scenes articles about local businesses alongside regular updates and news from the Shop Hartlepool team. 

We are always looking for great stories, so if you want to to be featured, or know a business who would, get in touch using the button below.   

Us 4 Books

As part of our Middleton Grange Market Hall mini-series, this week we are focusing on Us 4 Books. They are a family business that have been in the industry since the early 90’s.

We visited Us 4 Books to get a feel of what they offer and whilst we were there we spoke to co-owner Sue to learn more about their business.

They started with stalls at markets all across the North East before making their home in the Market Hall 15 years ago. They were approbated by the enterprise centre to have a stall in the market hall, a true testament to their business. 

It is great to see a local business encouraging the sale of pre-loved books. The majority of their stock is pre-loved books and their extensive offering means you’ll be spoilt for choice. A great way to make reading affordable and environmentally friendly. They also have a small number of new books so that they are able to cater for all of their customers.

Their ethos is to stop books going into landfill so they’ve now started a book exchange and offer part exchange.  

Their best selling products are surprisingly their children’s storybooks and activity books as well as comics. They cater for readers of all ages and interests, making them the perfect place to shop for a friend or family member. 
 
They love to sell handmade crafts and they love seeing someone purchase a hand made item that they lovingly made. They recognise the joy of giving a handmade gift. When we stopped by, we were surprised by just how much they have to offer. You can really see the thought and care put into all of the handmade crafts on display.
 
Their business is mainly built on repeat customers, some of which have been coming since they were on the Thursday market more than 15 years ago. Of course, they always welcome new customers. If you’ve not been to the market hall recently, now is the perfect time to take a look at what the local business owners like Sue from Us 4 Books have to offer. Sue says it better than we could:

“We always need new customers, if just a few more people come into the market hall instead of using the internet, it would help small businesses like us “

We loved our visit to Us 4 Books and getting to know the business from Sue herself. We couldn’t believe the variety of books, puzzles and gifts available. From speaking to Sue, the passion and love for books and handmade crafts was very clear. They’ve spent 15 years in the Market Hall turning that passion into a business that caters for their customers, new and old. 

Next time you need a new book to read or have completed your puzzle, then stop by Us 4 Books. Take advantage of part exchange or their book exchange to swap something new to you, at little cost. 

You can support Us 4 Books in lots of ways, many of which are of little or no cost. 

Here are some suggestions of what you can do:

Recommended For You
Success Stories
blog

Simply Bonsai

We recently started a series about the businesses who have made their home at The Arches. We started with Stacey

Read More
Stay connected

Sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates with Shop Hartlepool

A collaboration between