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The Austrian Bookstore Prize has been awarded for six years. This honors the five best bookstores in the country. An honor that this year was also given to a traditional shop from Burgenland – namely the Pokorny bookshop, which has been in Oberwart for almost 120 years.
The Pokorny bookshop is located in the town center of Oberwart, quite inconspicuously. The traditional business has existed since 1906. Jürgen Pokorny is now the fourth generation to run the family business. He is proud that he is now one of five winners in Austria to be awarded the Austrian Bookstore Prize.
“Well, that’s incredibly important, it’s a sign of appreciation for our work, which we’ve been doing here in our bookstore for four generations,” says Pokorny. The “Bookshop of the Year” award is given by a jury , how a bookstore is run and what the priorities are.
Regional literature and cooperation with schools
In the Pokorny household, the main focus is on regional literature and cooperation with the schools in the region. “For example, we organize reading workshops together with schools, or writing seminars in cooperation with local authors,” says Pokorny. For him, the award is probably also a bit of confirmation, because the competition in times of e-books and Online trading is overwhelming.
“The development is actually such that it is shifting from stationary trade to online business – just like in other industries – and this online business is dominated by the big ones. We also try to make this offer available to our customers via our homepage and also deliver it ourselves. With a car or, more recently, with e-bikes,” said Pokorny.
Online trade versus personal advice
And above all, you can offer one thing that online retail cannot. “Anyone who wants a human counterpart comes to the bookshop. It’s the people who really appreciate the personal and that’s also an effect of the pandemic that it’s becoming more once more – the personal, the direct, face-to-face,” says Pokorny. So there are still good arguments for satisfying your reading needs in a bookstore – and maybe getting tips from the “Bookseller of the Year”.
