Around Indies

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Here’s what’s happening in the world of indie bookstores this week:

New Orleans bookstores celebrated Independent Bookstore Day on May 12, so as not to conflict with the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on April 28, when more than 500 stores in the rest of the country marked the day. Octavia Books, Garden District Bookshop, Tubby & Coo’s Mid-City Book Shop, and Blue Cypress Books planned special activities for the day and banded together to offer readers a chance to win $100 gift certificates.

Noëlle Santos
Noëlle Santos

San Diego’s Mysterious Galaxy opened a small brick-and-mortar location in Redondo Beach, where the store previously operated a second location. The new store, Creating Conversations, will offer books as well as events.

amNewYork talked with Noëlle Santos, who’s aiming to open The Lit. Bar in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx this summer.

Mobile, Alabama, bookstore Bienville Books has been purchased by employee Angela Trigg, who will change the store’s name to The Haunted Bookshop. Trigg’s grandmother co-founded the original Haunted Bookshop in Mobile in 1941; it closed in 1991.

Following the announcement that longtime BookPeople CEO Steve Bercu planned to retire, Elizabeth Jordan has been named the new CEO of the Austin, Texas, bookstore, effective June 2. Jordan has worked at BookPeople since 2002 as a bookseller, manager, adult book buyer, inventory operations supervisor, and, most recently, general manager.

The Doylestown Bookshop in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, is celebrating its 20th anniversary on Saturday, May 26. 

St. Charles, Missouri’s Main Street Books turned 25 on May 15. Emily Hall, who co-owns the store with her parents, Ellen and Andy, said they’re planning a July celebration.

Village Books in Bellingham, Washington, will be home to a new café this summer when Evolve Chocolate owners Christy Fox and Shannon Fox take over the former Book Fare Café on the building’s third floor. Evolve Chocolate + Cafe will offer sandwiches, soups, coffee, and chocolate.

Vroman’s Bookstore and Book Soup are partnering with the Journal of Alta California, a quarterly print and online magazine that shines a spotlight on the arts, culture, literature, and history of California. Through the partnership, the stores will collaborate with Alta for in-store events and promotional campaigns.

Lonely Planet featured “9 children's bookstores worth traveling for,” including Brooklyn’s Stories Bookshop and Storytelling Lab; New York City’s Books of Wonder; Raleigh, North Carolina’s Read With Me children’s book and art shop; Wild Rumpus in Minneapolis; Second Star to the Right Children’s Books in Denver; and Children’s Book World in Los Angeles.

Upshur Street Books
Upshur Street Books

The Washington City Paper reported on D.C.’s indie bookstore renaissance and featured East City Bookshop, MahoganyBooks, Duende District Bookstore, Upshur Street Books, Solid State Books, and Politics and Prose.

MarketWatch talked with Upshur Street Books in Washington, D.C., for an article on stores that have thrived amid the retail apocalypse.

Susan Novotny of The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany, New York, talked with the Albany Business Review in a video segment about surviving in the age of Amazon.

A columnist for the Taunton Gazette visited Titcomb’s Bookshop on Cape Cod and praised its friendly staff, perfect bookstore smell, and variety of both books and non-book items.

The Dodo shared an array of photos and anecdotes about Spike, the cat who made Left Bank Books in St. Louis, Missouri, his home nearly 11 years ago.


Share your news in Around Indies! E-mail [email protected] with photos and details of what’s new at your store, whether it’s opening for business, moving to a new location, expanding, changing ownership, hosting a special event, or celebrating a milestone anniversary.