A Feature Around Town: Topping & Company Booksellers
- Hannah Heilman
- Apr 1
- 3 min read
Off Greyfriars Garden sits an idyllic bookstore. Its shelves are lined with first-edition books signed by their authors. Rolling ladders decorate the aisles. A cosy fireplace warms the entryway. Dogs follow their owners around – many of which are holding a complimentary tea or coffee as they browse the 65,000 books on display. This book-lover’s paradise goes by the name Topping and Company Booksellers.
Topping, a beloved St Andrews staple, was actually the third bookstore of its kind. In 2002, Robert and Louise Topping, who met while studying at St Andrews, opened the first shop location in Ely. From there, they extended to Bath, then St Andrews and then finally Edinburgh. At the end of this year, they will unveil a new location, the largest of the five shops, in York.
Robert and Louise are still very much involved in the operation of each Topping location, with their children operating as managers of the various shop locations. In St Andrews, though, the store is managed by locals, including Julia Gerken – an avid reader who said the role appealed to her because of the books and the “lovely environment.” “Still, after all these years,” she said, “I come in and I think, ‘Oh this is nice. This is how I would imagine a bookshop.’” This is Julia’s fifth year working at Topping, and she said she’s become acquainted with many of the regulars, whom she calls friends of the bookshop: “You know if they like rugby, you know their dogs,” she explained.
Perhaps Toppings’ most well-known characteristic is its complimentary tea and coffee which is served in blue Polish crockery. “It’s a nice thing to offer,” Julia said. “I feel the same if I had friends coming over to my house, I would offer them a tea or coffee. It’s also the experience – people want to come in, they don’t want to feel rushed, they want to take their time.”
The bookstore is known for its numerous author events – and with them, a bounty of rare edition and signed books – that take place throughout the year. The bookshop hosts anywhere from one to five author talks a week, with audiences ranging anywhere from 30-600 people. These talks, Julia said, “offer something to the St Andrews’ intellectual culture.”
A key part of her role is organizing these events – sourcing wine to offer participants, working with publishers to order books, communicating with publicity agents about authors’ schedules. “It is quite a big workload,” Julia said. “But it’s also very rewarding when you finally have the author in front of you and you get to speak to them and hear them speaking about their book.”
St Andrews, students and locals alike, has a cult following for Topping. Anywhere you go in town, it seems you can spot a Topping and Company tote bag hanging off the back of a chair or resting over someone’s shoulder. “It’s nice to see when you go out,” Julia said. “Or even outside of St Andrews, you see them at the airport or in a town where there isn’t even a Topping Bookshop and think, ‘Do you know I work there?’ It’s lovely. It does mean a lot.”
The bookshop has numerous author events and reading groups lined up for the month of April. Pop in the shop or check out their website for ways to get involved. Link for Topping events for April: https://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/st-andrews/
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