Avid reader wins his own bookstore in a raffle

When you walk into a bookshop, chances are that you weren't expecting to walk out with a bookshop. However, that's exactly what happened to Ceisjan Van Heerden after shopping at the Bookends bookstore in Cardigan, Wales. After opting for an early retirement due to medical issues, the bookshop's owner, Paul Morris, decided that he wanted to raffle it off and give a lucky book lover the opportunity to own a shop of their own.From The Guardian:

Morris, who worked in the book industry for years before he opened his own shop, told the Guardian that he had chosen to take early retirement at 52 after his osteoarthritis worsened."I thought about selling it, but I thought instead, let's give someone an opportunity in life which they might not otherwise have had. The principle was to make sure the shop continues in good hands," he said. "[Ceisjan] is a regular customer and I'm really pleased it was him - he wants to run it. You can make a very good living from it - far too many bookshops have disappeared over the years."

Van Heerden was in it to win it along with close to 60 other contestants. The only barrier to entry was spending over 20 (around $26) in the store. That doesn't sound like a whole lot of cheddar to hand over, for books or for the opportunity to own your own business. But, if it's a used bookstore that you're talking about, $26 is enough to fill a decent chunk of shelf space with new tomes to read. According to the Guardian, when Van Heerden takes over Morris' business on November 5th, he plans to run the bookshop with an online pal from Iceland that he's known for close to a decade. Image via Flickr, courtesy of Abhi Sharma