Not unusual at all - it's a common way to 'reinvent' your business (or part of it) to appeal to a new market. 'Tesco' is synonymous with bargain-basement, pile-it-high-sell-it-cheap goods; 'Willow Farm' sounds all rural and friendly, and a bit more expensive. Just like their clothing range is 'Florence and Fred', so you don't have to walk around with a 'Tesco' label on your shirt.
Publishers do it too, with dozens of imprints that all come from the same publisher. Gollancz used to be a publisher in its own right - now it's just a sci-fi/fantasy imprint of Hachette (I think). Nobody complains about being deceived because Hachette is hiding behind Gollancz.
The
Guardian is probably right that Waterstones is jumping on the current trend for all things indie - particularly in the
Guardian-reading population - but that's only good business. And Daunt is right that from the picture, Southwold looks like the kind of place that
ought to have an indie bookshop! Even if it's only pretending...
And, of course, Waterstones will provide a few jobs for local people, complete with career progression etc. Working in an indie bookshop might
sound like a really great job, but from what I've heard, it's potentially hard work, potentially boring/frustrating (like any other customer-facing job), and with long hours if you're the owner and low pay and no prospects if you're not. At least if your employer is Waterstones, you might start at minimum-wage (or barely above) as a Bookseller, but there's the potential for promotion to Senior Bookseller or above, even if you have to move to a different store.
And, of course, Southwold doesn't seem to have been jammed with people eager to start a (real) indie bookshop...
I'm with Waterstones on this one.
