Another shop is saying goodbye to the old town of Zug

She was self-employed for over 30 years. She first ran the Schmidgasse bookshop until it had to close in 2016. In the following year she opened the small shop on the Sankt-Oswald-Gasse in the historic old town of Zug. directly opposite the St. Oswald church. But that will now also close at the end of the year.

After more than 30 years of self-employment, it's finally over for Susanne Giger. she will close her small bookstore in the old town of Zug at the end of the year.

The Zug native immersed herself in the world of books at an early age. "For a long time, my parents ran a confectionery and bakery next to the Balmer bookstore," she recalls. Which is why she was often there. She also often received books from her relatives for birthdays or Christmas. Her future career choice was therefore obvious.

So it happened that, in 1982, she began her training in the Schmidgasse bookshop, next to the Seehof cinema in Zug, and finally took over the shop in 1990. She says that the situation was becoming increasingly difficult, however, which is why she decided to close the bookstore in 2016.

"I didn't think I'd start another business," she says. But when she found the premises at Sankt-Oswald-Gasse 14 in May 2017, she took the opportunity again.

Hundreds of stories in just 20 square metres
The bookstore in the old town is a lot smaller than the one on the Schmidgasse. The trained bookseller sells selected works here in premises of around only 20 square metres. It's not a lot of space, but you don't get the feeling that there’s not enough choice when you enter the store.

When asked what makes the job of a bookseller, she replies: "All the many worlds and stories that you can immerse yourself in and that you can pass on." It's about being the interface between publishers and the readership.

She herself likes to immerse herself in a wide variety of stories. "I want to learn things about people and places that I might never have discovered otherwise," says the 62-year-old. She is interested, among other things, in history, geography and foreign peoples. Although she is also interested in good language, gaining knowledge from a book is also central to her.

She knows many of her customers by name
What distinguishes her from other bookstores is the personal contact: “Many of my regular customers are happy about my tips and recommendations. It is also appreciated that I know my clientele by name,“ she adds.

How she selects her range of literature depends on various factors: "Through my experience, I know what is required and I know the tastes of my customers well," she says. But even books she herself has read and found good make it onto her shelves. Her main focus, however, is on Swiss literature.

Susanne Giger in her bookstore on the Sankt-Oswald-Gasse in Zug 
The bookshop invites you to browse. But if you need a little help with the selection, Susanne Giger is the right place for you.        Photos: Stefan Kaiser.

But this will all finish at the end of the year. Her regular customers have remained loyal after the Corona years, but otherwise the business has not really picked up. "The last half of the winter, in particular, was very quiet," says the bookseller. That's why she made the decision earlier this year to close.

The timing has also contributed to her decision: "I'll be retiring next year and would like to do something else." In addition, the building in which the shop is located is being renovated, and it was therefore uncertain how long she could stay here.

New releases in Zug
Susanne Giger has no precise plans for the time after that. "Basically, I first want to have my hands free and see what happens," she says. But she is looking forward to being able to walk more, to cook in a more varied way and, of course, to read more.

Does Susanne Giger have a favourite book? She can't say. There are many, which is why she would rather make two recommendations at the same time. "Both are new releases from Zug," as she explains.

On the one hand the book “Die Wiese” by Karin Mörgelin. It is about a very coveted property on Lake Zug, as Susanne Giger explains. The book summary states greed for a piece of land as a possible reason for a man's murder. The second tip is called "Damenprogramm (Women's programme)" by Theres Roth-Hunkeler. "It's an exciting and carefully written novel that deals with existential questions of life," she says.