New Booksellers

ABA welcomed 43 indie bookstores that opened in 2012 in 25 states. Among them were six branches of existing businesses and seven selling primarily used books. California is home to seven new stores; New York, five; Florida and Texas, three; and Kansas, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, two.

ABA Provisional members and employees of Regular member stores can now register for “How to Succeed at Retail Bookselling: Introduction to the Bookstore Business,” a full-day seminar to be held in Kansas City, Missouri, on Friday, February 22, 2013, the day before the eighth annual Winter Institute (Wi8) begins.

Registration opened today for the full-day seminar “How to Succeed at Retail Bookselling: Introduction to the Bookstore Business,” to be held in Kansas City, Missouri, on Friday, February 22, 2013, the day before the ABA Winter Institute begins.

The opening of Acorn Books in Dover, Delaware, earlier this month was made possible with help from YWCA’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Division and SCORE — community resources funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Bryan Foster, a retired senior logistician for the United States Army, has joined forces with fellow book lover T. Charles “Chuck” Garman to open a bookstore in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

Prospective booksellers ranging from Warwick, New York, to Santa Barbara, California, gathered on Amelia Island, Florida, last week to discuss industry trends and to learn about the business of bookselling at the full-week spring workshop retreat “Owning a Bookstore.”

*Forty-one ABA member bookstores opened in 2011, including seven branches of existing businesses and eight that sell primarily used books.

Jennifer Green’s plans for Beantree Books, which is slated to open this June, include an inventory of new and used books, a coffee bar, a community meeting room, and more.

Last week’s story about ABA member stores opening in 2010 inadvertently left out Reading Frenzy Bookshop, which opened in Zimmerman, Minnesota, in September. With this addition, the number of ABA member stores opening in 2010 is 26.

Twenty-five ABA member bookstores opened in 2010, with several filling voids left by the closing of chain stores. The openings, and neighborhood response, suggest growing support for locally owned businesses, along with continued support for bricks-and-mortar stores.

Mexican-born Teresa Carbajal Ravet opened Dulce Bread & Bookshop in Dripping Springs, Texas, with the mission to promote various cultures and multicultural literature.

Fifteen prospective independent bookstore owners sought training in retail bookselling last week during an intensive workshop held at Amelia Island, Florida. Trainees came from across the U.S., from Victoria, Canada, and from as far away as the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Elizabeth and Sean Anker opened their children’s bookstore in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on April 3. "We have anything a teenager or younger is going to need or want to read,” said Elizabeth Anker.

Michael Barnard of Rakestraw Books in Danville, California, recommends booksellers be proactive in handling credit and debit card transactions. He'll discuss managing the complicated fee structure of credit and debit cards to reduce risk and save money at "The Business of Accepting Credit & Debit Cards," an ABA Day of Education session, on Tuesday, May 25, at at BookExpo America.

This week, 10 more state-specific fact sheets were added to the E-Fairness Action Kit (E-FACT) on BookWeb.org, the American Bookseller Association's member website. Next week, the ABA will add the final fact sheets for the remaining states that collect sales tax but do not yet have e-fairness laws. ABA launched E-FACT in January to provide booksellers with a wide array of state-specific tools to help them in their e-fairness outreach efforts.

New fact sheets are now available for: