“Selling cool stuff to nice people”
“Get sick, get well, hang around an inkwell. Ring bell, hard to tell, if anything is gonna sell.” If you see that quote on a wall in York, you have found the Inkwell. The words are Bob Dylan’s, from his 1965 classic Subterranean Homesick Blues, and they inspired the name of the store.
More so than most retailers, Paul Lowman didn’t know what was “gonna sell” when he opened the shop in 2011. York hadn’t seen anything quite like what he called a “pop culture general store.” Decorated with posters for obscure films, vintage maps, pen-and-ink illustrations of various creatures, black-and-white photographs of comedy legends – and anything else that caught his eye – it was clear on passing through the Gillygate doorway that this was no branch of WHSmith.
Info
Address 10 Gillygate, York YO31 7EQ, +44 (0)7846 610777, www.ink-well.co.uk, paul@ink-well.co.uk | Public Transport 3-minute walk from Bootham Row car park. Closest bus stops: Exhibition Square and Gillygate | Tip Close to the Inkwell, on Gillygate, are a couple of other shops for pop-culture vultures: the Six String sells rock and film T-shirts and other gifts, and Rebound Records has lots of different music genres on vinyl.
Stock is displayed on old-school desks facing the blackboard at the back. An organ in one corner is often piled high with merchandise. And usually some remarkable piece of music that you’ve never heard before is emanating from the record player at the back. (There are plenty of cool portable turntables for sale too.)
At its most basic, the Inkwell is a book and music store, although that only describes the half of it. Wooden crates of vinyl fill the window, encompassing everything from contemporary indie to hip-hop to second-hand classic film soundtracks. There’s usually a box of singles knocking around too. Books range from lurid pulp fiction paperbacks to coffee-table tomes of film criticism. There are classic children’s annuals, various fanzines and flyers, and little gifts that you just don’t seem to see anywhere else.
While you’re there, grab yourself a coffee and have a chat with Paul, who’s never happier than when he’s talking about music, books, films, or York itself. And look out for the live gigs: bands regularly launch their new records here too.
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