UNITOM Manchester and the return of the physical magazine

In Manchester’s Northern Quarter, UNITOM and some independent publishing — treating printed matter as something to collect

In an economy built around scrolling, UNITOM works in the opposite direction. The independent bookshop and magazine store, located in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, is structured around slowness: printed matter laid across tables, shelves dedicated to independent magazines, art books stacked alongside self-published zines, posters, editions and objects. A place built less around consumption than around attention.

Opened in late 2021 at Stevenson Square, UNITOM emerged after the closure of Magma, the long-running Manchester reference point for magazines and visual culture. The gap left by Magma was not simply commercial. It was infrastructural. A city with a strong history of graphic culture, independent music, photography and subcultural publishing had lost one of the few places where printed visual culture could still be discovered physically rather than algorithmically.

UNITOM, Manchester – established publishing and self-production is flattened on the shelf

UNITOM enters that space with a hybrid identity: bookstore, magazine archive, gallery, coffee spot and cultural venue. The project focuses on visual arts publishing — contemporary art, graphic design, architecture, fashion, photography, music, gender studies and counterculture. International publishers sit next to small press editions and locally produced zines. The hierarchy between established publishing and self-production is flattened on the shelf.

The name itself combines “universal” and “tomorrow.” The ambition is visible in the way the store positions print culture not as nostalgia, but as a contemporary form of circulation. Independent magazines are treated less as disposable media products than as designed objects — things to preserve, display and revisit.

Inside the store, books and magazines coexist with prints, stationery and design objects. The selection includes titles from publishers such as Phaidon and Taschen alongside independent publications including The Gentlewoman, Creative Review, Delayed Gratification and smaller editorial projects that rarely enter mainstream retail distribution. The visual identity of the space remains deliberately minimal: black exterior, clean interiors, pale wood tables, printed matter exposed openly rather than compressed into dense shelving systems.

The Northern Quarter and Manchester’s independent culture

UNITOM’s location matters. Stevenson Square sits in the middle of Manchester’s Northern Quarter, an area historically associated with independent retail, music venues, graphic studios and nightlife. Over the past two decades the district has become one of the city’s main creative clusters, although increasingly shaped by redevelopment and commercial pressure.

In this context, UNITOM operates almost as a defensive structure for independent publishing culture. The store functions not only as retail but as meeting point and distribution node for artists, students, designers, photographers and editors. Events hosted by UNITOM include zine launches, workshops, magazine showcases, artist talks and collaborations with institutions such as Manchester Metropolitan University and the Manchester Fashion Institute.

The emphasis on self-publishing is central. Store manager and buyer Tim Bell has repeatedly described the importance of independent print production and artist-led publishing. Zines, small-run magazines and experimental editorial formats occupy a large portion of the store’s identity. In practical terms, UNITOM treats self-publishing as a legitimate cultural economy rather than a peripheral scene.

That distinction matters in contemporary publishing. Much of online visual culture exists in accelerated circulation: images detached from context, endlessly reposted and flattened into feed aesthetics. Print operates differently. A magazine has sequencing, weight, scale, typography and material presence. UNITOM’s model depends on that physicality.

Beyond retail: print as spatial experience

UNITOM also works as an exhibition environment. Prints and editions by contemporary artists are displayed throughout the space, reinforcing the connection between publishing and visual art. The store often resembles a small gallery more than a traditional bookstore.

Coffee plays a role in this structure as well. The inclusion of specialty coffee is not simply lifestyle branding; it extends permanence inside the space. Customers are encouraged to remain, browse, sit and read. In many contemporary retail environments speed is prioritised. UNITOM instead builds value through duration.

This combination — independent publishing, visual culture, editions, events and hospitality — reflects a broader shift happening in certain bookstores internationally. As digital distribution dominates information, physical bookstores increasingly survive by becoming cultural environments rather than transactional spaces.

UNITOM belongs to that category. It is less a shop selling magazines than an attempt to preserve the social dimension of printed culture.

Why spaces like UNITOM still matter

The relevance of UNITOM is tied to a larger question surrounding independent media and visual culture. As publishing becomes increasingly platform-dependent, spaces capable of supporting physical circulation gain strategic importance. Independent magazines still exist online, yet their cultural legitimacy often remains tied to print.

A printed magazine occupies space differently. It can be archived, collected, inherited and rediscovered years later without depending on an algorithmic timeline. UNITOM builds its identity around that permanence.

Manchester has long produced graphic and musical subcultures through independent infrastructures: record shops, flyers, posters, pirate radio, fanzines and local presses. UNITOM continues that lineage through contemporary visual publishing.

In a media system dominated by speed and frictionless distribution, the store insists on the opposite logic: paper, sequencing, tactile experience and the possibility of slowing down long enough to look carefully at an image before it disappears.