Oxford Road’s magazine shop on wheels announces expansion with permanent location
- Catalog is an independent book and magazine store that operates from a transformed Christiania bike
- It has announced plans to expand with a permanent shipping container store outside All Saints Park in 2022
- New store promises collaboration and creative input from MMU students
- Crowdfunder campaign launched to support project
A bookshop on wheels has unveiled plans to move to a permanent location and wants to get Man Met students involved in the project.
Peter Tzouanos, 34, started selling magazines from his renovated Christiania bike outside All Saints Park on Oxford Road last year.
A major transformation is planned for next year when Catalog bookshop will be housed in a shipping container, creating a permanent fixture for creative artwork and publications.
Peter said: “I started trading back in April and it’s been great but I need to be able to have more volumes and more titles
“What happens now is if someone buys one title, I don’t have a replacement,” he added, due to the store’s size.
He said the weather also has an adverse impact on his bike bookshop.
The shipping container, which will be up and running by February, will allow Peter to continue trading in Manchester’s rainy weather and offer more publications to customers.
“I want the ability to offer more variety and titles to the students and people who come to Catalog,” said Peter.
He hopes to collaborate with Manchester students and creatives for the expansion, stocking magazines and publications made by Man Met students.
“I’d like to give them the opportunity to display their work, like project books and magazines, because I’ll have the space to accommodate them,” Peter said.
“I want them to see it as a blank canvas to experiment with.”
He also wants them to get involved with the shipping container’s design.
Millie Jobson, an MMU graphic design graduate, is one student whose final project has been stocked at Catalog.
“It was such an amazing opportunity for me to be able to sell and showcase my magazine, Sponge, and it gave me a platform to exhibit my work to the public,” said Millie, which she appreciated after a year of online classes and a virtual degree show.
“It was also exciting for me as a recent graduate to have my university project stocked alongside some of my favourite publications and magazines.
“I look forward to the expansion and I really hope it goes ahead as Catalog is brilliant, especially in my case when they support graduates.”
Richard Kelly, a fashion art lecturer at Man Met, expressed support for Catalog’s expansion.
“It would mean a permanent spot where you could buy new and exciting mags and zines, and it’d become a little creative hub in the city. I hope it comes to fruition”, he said.
“Catalog not only stocks an amazing array of creative magazines but it also provides a much-needed service.
“The amount of independent outlets selling publications like these is woefully short in Manchester.”
While plans for the shipping container are underway, Peter hopes to continue using the Christiania bike to bring Catalog to weekend markets and stalls.
A Crowdfunder campaign has been launched to help fund the Catalog expansion, with a target of £3,500 to bring the project to life.