An employee at Petersfield Bookshop, which sells antiquarian, second-hand and new books, tweeted a picture of the store after a quiet day.
A Hampshire bookshop that tweeted about not selling a single book on Tuesday has been inundated with orders after going viral.
An employee at Petersfield Bookshop, which sells antiquarian, second-hand and new books, tweeted a picture of the store after a quiet day meant nothing had been sold.
The tweet read: “…Tumbleweed… Not a single book sold today… £0.00… We think this may be the first time ever… We know its miserable out but if you’d like to help us out, please find our Abebooks offering below, all at 25% off at the moment….”
The message hit home for thousands of book lovers, who retweeted it — including author Neil Gaiman.
Overnight the store had more than 300 messages inquiring after books, as well as 95 orders.
Managing director John Westwood told the PA news agency: “This store, in its current site, was opened by my dad in 1958, and it’s his legacy.
“I believe in this industry, but online ordering and Amazon has hit us hard. I’ve had to sell my flat to keep the store afloat, and most evenings sleep on a camp bed in the shop.
“We have lots of big plans for the future, on how to expand and grow, we just need to get there first.”
He said the store has been busy today with visitors and buyers, with one Petersfield resident telling him: “I’ve lived here all my life and never been in your shop. Last night my friend who lives in San Francisco told me I had to come today.”
Mr Westwood said: “It has been overwhelming, mind-blowing and very humbling. Book-lovers are a very special people, and everyone has been so supportive.
“I’ve carried on this store for my father — if you want to be rich you don’t go into the book industry.
“Books are special things and nothing beats going into a bookstore. Seeing them, touching them, smelling them — it is a special place.”
The bookshop currently runs speaker and poetry events, discount shopping evenings and organises sessions with schools and organisations, and is looking to expand in the coming months.
Many celebrities have met violent ends over the years, the latest being director-actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michele. Here's an overview of some of the highest-profile cases.
Rob Reiner gained fame on the 1970s sitcom “All in the Family” before directing hit films including “When Harry Met Sally.” The couple was found dead Sunday at their home in Los Angeles. A law enforcement official said investigators believed they suffered stab wounds. Their son, Nick Reiner, was being held on $4 million bail in connection with the deaths.
A 25-year-old who'd recently worked as a security guard, Mark David Chapman, shot Lennon outside the Beatles star's apartment building in New York on Dec. 8, 1980. Chapman said he considered Lennon a “phony” and was inspired by the main character of J.D. Salinger's novel, “The Catcher in the Rye.” Denied parole since 2000, Chapman remains in prison.
The R&B and soul musician's father shot Gaye when he intervened in a confrontation between his parents at the family's home in Los Angeles on April 1, 1984. Marvin Gay Sr. pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and was given a six-year suspended prison sentence. He died of pneumonia in a nursing home in 1998.
Gunned down in a car in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip on Sept. 7, 1996, the rapper and actor died in a hospital six days later. Trial for the only man charged in the killing, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, is set for early next year. Davis is an ex-gang leader who was arrested in 2023. Accused of orchestrating the Shakur's killing, he has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Six months after Shakur's death, rapper The Notorious B.I.G. was killed in a similar drive-by shooting on March 9, 1997, after he left a party in Los Angeles. He was 24. The murder of Shakur's friend-turned-rival, whose legal name was Christopher Wallace, remains unsolved.
Cooke was known as the “King of Soul” with dozens of hits in the seven years before his death. He was shot in the chest by a motel manager in Los Angeles after he forced his way into the motel office on Dec. 11, 1964. The killing was ruled a justifiable homicide and the motel manager wasn't prosecuted.
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, the Tejano music star known as “Selena,” was shot in a motel room in Corpus Christi, Texas, on March 31, 1995. Selena, 23, identified her shooter as Yolanda Saldívar, manager of her clothing boutiques and president of her fan club, whom she'd suspected of embezzling money. Saldívar was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. She was denied parole in 2025.
The actress and model, 26, was one of five people killed by members of the Manson Family cult on Aug. 8, 1969, at the Los Angeles house she shared with her husband, director Roman Polanski. Tate was eight-and-a-half months pregnant. Manson and three members of his cult were convicted on Jan. 26, 1971, for the murders of seven people, including Tate.
Hartman, a “Saturday Night Live” cast member who helped Paul Reubens develop his character Pee-wee Herman, was shot and killed in his sleep by his wife, Brynn Omdahl, on May 28, 1998. He was 49. Omdahl took her own life soon after.
The rap musician and DJ for Run-DMC was 37 when he was shot and killed in his recording studio in New York. In 2024, jurors convicted Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington of killing the pioneering DJ — born Jason Mizell — in a case prosecutors described as revenge for a failed drug deal. The case stalled while investigators pursuing numerous leads struggled to get witnesses to open up.
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This story has been updated t
FILE - In this Dec. 6, 1995, file photo, The Notorious B.I.G., who won rap artist and rap single of the year, clutches his awards at the podium during the annual Billboard Music Awards in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
FILE - This Oct. 1992 photo shows actor Phil Hartman. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Actress Sharon Tate poses for a portrait in 1968. (AP Photo/Frank Tewkesbury, File)
FILE - Marvin Gaye, winner of Favorite Soul/R&B Single, "Sexual Healing," attends the American Music Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 17, 1983. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac, File)
FILE -Run-D.M.C.'s Jason Mizell, Jam-Master Jay, poses with teenagers gathered at New York's Madison Square Garden, Oct. 7, 1986, in New York. (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett, File)
FILE - Rapper Tupac Shakur attends a voter registration event in South Central Los Angeles, Aug. 15, 1996. (AP Photo/Frank Wiese, File)
FILE - In this May 13, 1968 file photo, singer John Lennon appears during a press conference at the Hotel Americana in New York. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Selena performs on stage at Six Flags AstroWorld's Southern Star Amphitheater on July 31, 1994. (Howard Castleberry/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)
