Left Bank Books Flows Over into New Space
Left Bank Books, an independent, full-service bookstore in the St. Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area, is expanding. Its turn-of-the-century neighborhood in the historic Central West End of the city is the lively home to a mix of fine restaurants, galleries, and cafés.
As of last Friday, the news is good for Second Story Book Shop in Chappaqua, New York. Owner Joan Ripley has signed a two-year lease for the 32-year-old bookstore, which was threatened with eviction when a new landlord informed her of his intention to terminate her month-to-month tenancy in favor of a new lease with a law firm.
The Harry Potter phenomenon continues as booksellers use their experience with the previous books in the series to prepare for the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Scholastic) on July 16. Innovative ideas sprout up every day, like so many Abyssinian shrivelfigs. 
Steve Bercu, co-owner of the self-proclaimed "Largest Bookstore in Texas -- A Community Bound by Books," received a call about a month ago informing him that BookPeople had been named Publishers Weekly Bookseller of the Year. The 24,000-square-foot store, originally named "Grok Books" when founded in 1970, has been an Austin landmark for decades and is a founding member of the city's influential Austin Independent Business Alliance (AIBA).
When Pat and Walter Boyer bought Bookends in 2002, the Ridgewood, New Jersey, store was already on the map. The 21-year-old store's suburban location, less than 25 miles and under 40 minutes from mid-town Manhattan, is a convenient stop for major authors after a morning television appearance or an afternoon public radio interview.
When Michael Stuppin moved back to his hometown of San Francisco to open Alexander Book Co. with his sister, Bonnie Stuppin, they wanted to provide the city with "something a little different," a general bookstore that filled under-met needs.
Frank Hodge's Hodge-Podge Books in Albany, New York, is a deceiving 240 square feet. By all accounts, it is a colossal bookstore: 23-years-old, with about $1 million in sales annually. Hodge-Podge and its owner have influenced thousands of teachers, parents, and students through renowned reading conferences, school appearances, and hundreds of face-to-face interactions with reluctant readers and their families and children's book illustrators and authors.