About Bookstores

The Sly Fox Mystery & Children's Bookstore in Virden, Illinois, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this month, boasts some 86 years of family history. "This building that I'm in, my great-aunt opened a dress and hat shop here in 1922," Sly Fox owner George Rishel told BTW in a recent interview. "My mother took the shop over in 1979 and ran it until 1991."

When Cathy Stanley e-mailed friends and neighbors to advertise the sale of her bookstore, Two Sisters Bookery in Wilmington, North Carolina, Angela Carr wasted no time in responding. Carr learned of the sale on June 2, and by June 20 she owned the bookstore. "I got an e-mail from Cathy and immediately jumped," said Carr.

As Americans gear up for next week's Fourth of July celebrations, ABA member booksellers are using IndieBound marketing materials to create or supplement their own unique "Independents" promotions.

Hooray for a New Kids' Bookstore

This week, the Small Business Blog on WashingtonPost.com reported on the opening of Hooray for Books! by Trish Brown and Ellen Klein, two former staffers of A Likely Story, which closed in November 2007. Brown and Klein have taken over A Likely Story's old space and have hired three part-timers, also veterans of the old store.

Claire Klassen couldn't wait to return home from BookExpo America and start using IndieBound at Austin, Texas' BookPeople. "We are the perfect environment to spread the message of 'independents,'" she explained.

When Kevin Roberts and daughter Maia Roberts launched an online African-American bookstore a few years ago, they were well aware that "there was a lot more out there" than the small selection of African-American titles they saw at a local chain.

On Friday, June 20, after 52 years in business, Cody's Books, in Berkeley, California, closed. Describing it as "a heartbreaking moment," Cody's President Hiroshi Kagawa, said in a statement, "Unfortunately, my current business is not strong enough or rich enough to support Cody's. Of course, the store has been suffering from low sales and the deficit exceeds our ability to service it."

Though a good indie bookstore is a fantastic anchor for a vibrant Main Street, the bottom line is that a successful bookstore's happy customers will be happier still if their downtown offers other unique experiences.

This week's record-breaking flooding in the Midwest has left a good part of the University of Iowa under water, including the Iowa Memorial Union Book Store. Other Iowa City independents, Iowa Book and Prairie Lights Books, were spared from the flooding, as were booksellers in Des Moines and Cedar Falls.

Babylon Falling, a 600-square-foot space in San Francisco, is primarily a general bookstore, as well as a gallery space, said owner Sean Stewart. "It is a concept-driven independent bookstore with a focus on the spirit of revolution ...

The Afro-American Book Stop, which was destroyed three years ago by Hurricane Katrina, will reopen on July 1. The new 1,500-square-foot store will be near its former location in New Orleans East and will celebrate its grand reopening throughout the July 4th weekend.

"Reopening is something I'm both excited about, yet fearful of," said Afro-American Book Stop owner Michele Lewis. "Hearing and reading so much about the struggles of bookselling, it is a bit frightening, but at the same time I'm ready."

Since word spread through the media late last month that Harvard Book Store, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, landmark, was on the market, there has been "a lot of interest, [and] some of it could be serious," said Frank Kramer, the store's owner. "There are a number of interested [potential] buyers, but who knows where it's going to lead."

John Evans and Alison Reid of DIESEL, a Bookstore, in Oakland and Malibu, will be opening a third location in Brentwood, California. The store, approximately 1,500 square feet, will be in Brentwood Country Mart, a high-end shopping center built in 1948. It is slated to open in September.

Vroman's Bookstore, Publishers Weekly 2008 Bookseller of the Year, is offering store tours during BookExpo America. There are tours currently scheduled for Thursday afternoon, May 29, and Sunday afternoon, June 1, but Vroman's will accommodate people's schedules and will offer tours at additional times throughout the week.

When Judy Nelson and her husband, Byron, built a location for their children's bookstore, Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop, in La Verne, California, they made it as inviting to kids as possible. "The current location looks much like a home from the outside, with a lawn, flowers, and bay windows," said store manager Andrea Vuleta.