This doesn’t surprise me at all. Waterstones have been pushing the “tat” further from the entrance and really are focused on being what bookstores were pre-Amazon.

My local Waterstones is the last surviving dedicated book store in the city and is really a destination as much as anything else. They run a lot of activities in their coffee shop too (book clubs and such).

I was certain covid would have been the final nail in the coffin but their renewed focus really is working - they’re thriving in a way they haven’t been in 20 years.