Americans, particularly New Yorkers, visiting the Little Apple bookshop in York, immediately get the core connection between the two cities.

Bookworms: Tim Curtis and Philippa Morris of the Little Apple bookshop in York

The shop is owned by Philippa Morris and Tim Curtis, who relocated from London. The couple have been in business in High Petergate for nearly two years, despite being advised against opening an independent book shop in the city.

Several people cited examples of the many small bookshops that folded due to the relentless rise and cost-cutting exercises of the bookshop chains.

"No matter how much research we did into the shop, however, there came a point when we had to make a leap of faith and go for it," said Tim.

Before starting up, the dynamic duo attended a two-day Business Link course, and were told that only one-in-six small businesses survive the first two years of trade. Philippa said: "We feel we have achieved a great deal. However, we're not complacent in our success and have introduced a new discounting scheme to place ourselves at the forefront of a competitive market."

Tim and Philippa are encouraging customers to buy more books by reducing the list price by 20 per cent until the end of August. This promotional offer will probably be extended. They are delighted at bucking the trend that believes "bigger is better" and have had a number of orders from local schools.

"We have acquired a reputation as the bookshop to go to for great service, knowledgeable staff and a friendly environment," said Philippa, who originates from York. "We have been pleased with the positive response from our customers and hope they see it as their bookshop as much as ours."

To this extent they initiated the little apple reading group in September, 1997. The group meets in the shop every first Tuesday of the month to hold discussions on modern works, such as Giles Foden's The Last King of Scotland, and Anne Tyler's A Patchwork Planet. It celebrates its anniversary on September 7.

One of the little apple's consistent sellers is Captain Corelli's Mandolin, by Louis De Bernieres.

"Our books are accessible, the shop has a nice atmosphere, and we've got a quick ordering service," said Tim. "Despite the electronic age, people still want a book to look at, feel, browse through, buy and read."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.