Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo “was by far” the best selling book at Waterstones’s flagship Irish store, Hodges Figgis, in 2024.
That is according to Bookshop Manager at Hodges Figgis, Liam Donnelly, who said that the Dawson Street outlet in Dublin “is the third largest shop by sales though not size in the Waterstones group” in Ireland and the UK.
Mr Donnelly made his comments as new accounts for Waterstones Booksellers Ireland Ltd show that pre-tax profits increased by 14% to €3.98m in the 12 months to April 27 last.
The bookseller achieved the increase in profits after revenues rose by 4% from €13.22m to €13.79m.
The directors state that “footfall and sales continue to grow year on year, with encouraging growth in our Irish stores, including the impact of tourist numbers increasing and workers returning to offices”.
The directors state that Waterstones has benefited from the increased popularity of both reading and physical bookshops supported notably by social media and positive press coverage.
The company paid a cash dividend of €5m on April 24 last and this followed the company declaring a dividend of €18.27m in October 2023 that was used to reduce intercompany balances held across the Waterstones group.
Numbers employed increased from 67 to 76 as staff costs rose from €2.03m to €2.42m. The profits last year take account of non-cash depreciation costs of €1m.
Mr Donnelly said that the best-sellers for Hodges Figgis for the financial period were Booker prize winner Paul Lynch, along with Booker prize short-listed Paul Murray’s “Bee Sting” and “Dublin: Mapping the City” by Joseph Brady and Paul Ferguson.
“Claire Keegan’s books in that period were also all in the top 10, Blindboy Boatclub’s “Topographica Hibernica”, Liam Brady’s biography and “Strange Sally Diamond” by Liz Nugent also sold extraordinarily well.”
Mr Donnelly said that in the current financial year, the best seller is “Intermezzo” along with “Orbital” by Samanta Harvey, “Obsessed” by Johnny Sexton, “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan, “Long Island” by Colm Toibin and “The Heart in Winter” by Kevin Barry.
He said that Ferdia Lennon’s “Glorious Exploits”, who won several prizes including The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize also sold extremely well.
“It is encouraging to see that the majority of books in our top 100 for the year are books by Irish authors both published in Ireland and in the UK and further afield,” Mr Donnelly said.
“In terms of trends there has been a recognition of the resurgence of the Irish Language with books by Hector O’hEochagáin – “Irish words You Should Know” and “Gaeilge I Mo Chroí” from Molly Nic Céile.
The Hodges Figgis store has undergone a major revamp and Mr Donnelly said that all customer facing areas were relaid out and the volume for books was increased by 20%.
“This process took five months of building and decorating and many months before in planning and phasing so that we could continue trading during the works. The refurb allowed us to add more books and create dedicated areas for Rare Books, Remainder Books and to better showcase our Non-book offer,” he said.
“The shop looks beautiful now with improved lighting and new bookshelves throughout making it a haven for booklovers far and wide,” he stated.
“Our sales in 2025 continue to grow and the appetite for books and especially books published in Ireland and by Irish authors continues to grow,” he said.
“The website www.hodgesfiggis.ie was relaunched just before Christmas 2024 as a click and collect site initially and later this year will become fully transactional,” he added.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
