About Bookstores

’Tis the season for big birthdays for indie bookstores. Last week, BTW featured four stores celebrating major milestones, and here we tip our hats to four more.

WORD bookstore in Brooklyn was recently recognized by the Village Voice for “Best Off-Line Personal Ads - 2010” for its matchmaking board – a success that has spawned bookish love connections and press coverage since its debut last July.

Staff members at Eagle Harbor Book Company recently hosted a forum to introduce customers to the range of e-book formats available through the store website and to assure readers that there is a place for e-books in the independent bookselling community.

Newspaper owners to buy The Country Bookshop; Michele Filgate makes 2010 “It List”; Fearrington Inn recognized by Conde Nast Traveler

Selecting titles, buying, pricing, and shelving used books is admittedly a labor-intensive process, but five booksellers who spoke to BTW agreed they’re a valuable part of their business.

Sarah McNally Featured in Poets & Writers; The Dolphin Bookshop Wins Beautification Award; Carol Besse Reads Essay on The Bob Edwards Show

Indie bookstores celebrating big anniversaries this fall include Texas’ BookPeople (40), Kansas’ Rainy Day Books (35), California’s Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Book Shop (25), and Pennsylvania’s Mystery Lovers Bookshop (20).

Powell’s wins Hunger Games Contest; Octavia Books sponsors radio program; Square Books launches broadside series; PSU Bookstore offers Odin Ink POD program; Roebling Point opens; Greenlight receives kudos

Florida’s Vero Beach Book Center, which opened in 1975 with a staff of avid readers, soon developed a reputation for the quality of its customer service and making sure visitors received a truly unique experience.

Six indie booksellers offer insights on how a café can benefit the entire bookstore, its effect on the bottom line, and whether – after tallying all the added responsibilities and costs – they still think adding a café was a good idea.

MSNBC’s Your Business recently profiled Jonah and Ellen Zimilies, owners of Words bookstore in Maplewood, New Jersey, who instituted a “change of management” style that emphasized capitalizing on staff skills or “job crafting.”

Bank Street Books, in New York City, has been celebrating 40 years of customer service and loyalty with a month-long celebration. The store's staff compiled a list of their top 40 favorite books, gave away prizes, and hosted several author events.

Whether looking for a way to increase margin, responding to customers’ pleas for caffeine, or just because coffee and books are such a natural, booksellers have been including cafés in their bookstores for years. But are they worth it? The majority of booksellers who spoke to BTW say they can be.

After facing several setbacks, Flintridge Bookstore and Coffee House in La Cañada, California, is preparing to move into a new building that will bring it closer to the heart of the community.

Eagle Harbor embraces e-readers; Oneonta bookstore recognized for innovation; New bookstore gives “Books 4 Food”