Located on Stockholm’s Götgatan Street, Press Stop showcases niche publications

Looking to expand its collection of reads, Press Stop is continuing its efforts in remaining to be the last of its kind in serving recondite literary goods

Götgatan, Stockholm: the street and the Stockholm City Museum

On the southern island of Stockholm stands one of the longest streets in the center of the city: Götgatan. First established in the twelfth century, Götgatan has held its name since the sixteen-forties, a name derived from the Göta highway. Götgatan hosts the Stockholm City Museum and has an adjoined road towards Södermalm Square in Slussen.

Also known as Stadsmuseet, the Stockholm City Museum is an area of artwork, first established in 1658. As Sweden’s largest municipal museum, the space holds three hundred thousandhistorical items, twenty thousand artworks, and a collection of three million photographs. Two permanent collections, The Stockholm Exhibition and About Houses – Architecture and building preservation in Stockholm, sit alongside smaller exhibitions, photography among them, year-round.

Papercut on Krukmakargatan: Stockholm’s independent magazine stores

Papercut is one example. Located on the Stockholm shopping street Krukmakargatan, the magazine store was founded by Alexander Dahlberg and his partner, Andreas Frykund, in 2008. It offers a selection of goods for creative individuals with items on fashion, art, design, music, and film. Papercut carries AnOther Magazine, i-D, Monocle, and 032c.

Press Stop stands on Götgatan, where it began as one format and has changed over time.

The Story of Press Stop in Stockholm’s Södermalm Island

As Martina, the owner of the store explains, Press Stop began and has remained, as a franchise store with a singular owner for the span of fifteen years. Found all over Sweden, Press Stop’s locations had a change in business model and began changing their internal store concepts to convenience stores. The location in Götgatan however, as the owner puts it, has remained the same as its predecessor, where the focus has been kept on selling literary goods.

Being the one, and only Press Stop location to exist today, the magazine store is located in the «trendy and lively» area on Södermalm Island. Borrowing influences from the original store’s business plan, Press Stop now caters to its customers through offerings of books, posters, and postcards. Having begun her career in fashion photography, the owner, Martina, collated her works and began selling them to magazines. Upon hearing the news that one of her works was bought and published by a print publication, she headed to the closest bookstore and magazine store she could find – evidently, it was Press Stop. It just so happened that during this time, Martina came to find out that the bookstore was hiring floor staff.

Press Stop: Stockholm’s Magazine Store for Niche Literary Goods

Applying for the role on a whim, the now owner was hired, and she rose up the ranks to eventually take over the store as its manager. Immediately assimilating into her role, Martina has been disseminating magazines and books on the topics of fashion, design, photography, and contemporary art to name a few genres. Ordering books and magazines that the members of the staff enjoy reading, Press Stop also occasionally receives recommendations from its customers.

Encased in a relatively sized store, Press Stop’s glass windows offer an entire world view of the store. Stacked on wooden shelves, center tables, and some arranged on metal shelving, magazines like V Mag, Self Service, Fantastic Man, and Apartamento litter the store alongside coffee table books like Acne Paper and Kinfolk Guidebooks. Looking to expand its collection of reads, Press Stop is continuing its efforts in remaining to be the last of its kind in serving recondite literary goods.