Around Indies

McNally Jackson to Open New Location in 2017

New York City bookseller McNally Jackson has signed on to open a new location in lower Manhattan’s Seaport District, which is undergoing a revitalization by the Howard Hughes Corporation that includes the opening of new retail shops, restaurants, and open-air spaces, MarketWatch reported.

McNally Jackson is set to open in Schermerhorn Row, a cobblestoned block of historic houses, in 2017. The shop will feature a café with outdoor seating, a family-friendly reading area, and free events.

“I can’t imagine a better setting for a bookstore than the old buildings of Schermerhorn Row,” said store owner Sarah McNally. “It will be thrilling to sit in the deep sills of those old windows, surrounded by books, looking out over the cobblestone streets to the river and the Brooklyn Bridge.”

Kepler’s Offering GiftLit Book Subscriptions

GiftLit, a book gift subscription service founded in 2006 by two Bay Area mothers looking for high-quality books for their children and out-of-town friends and family, has recently become a subsidiary of Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, California, which will be combining the literary expertise of its staff with easy online ordering to offer gift subscriptions to readers of all ages.

“GiftLit is another step forward in our plan to reinvent Kepler’s — and potentially the bookstore industry,” said Praveen Madan, Kepler’s CEO.

Gift subscriptions can be purchased in three-, six-, or twelve-month installments, with books coming from an assortment of collections hand-curated by Kepler’s or custom lists created by the giver. One book will arrive each month, gift wrapped and with a personal note from the giver.

“We see tremendous potential to add value to the traditional bookstore business model and differentiate our business from the online bookstore market gorillas,” said Madan. “As we integrate the GiftLit service and new technology features into our operation, we plan to share our progress and lessons learned with other independent bookstores, book clubs, and literacy non-profits so that everyone can benefit.”

Spellbound Becomes Party Central

Asheville, North Carolina’s Spellbound Children’s Bookshop has begun a new initiative to position itself as a fun and festive location for book-themed birthday parties and baby showers.

Birthday party rentals include a planning session, private use of an event space in the rear of the shop, a Spellbound party host to assist with the event, story time, activities and crafts, and goodie bags. Birthday parties are available for children turning three to seven years old.

Baby shower rentals include a planning session and private use of the space, a gift registry of items available from Spellbound, plus a discount on gift registry purchases and free gift wrapping and storage of gifts.

Scuppernong Gets the Banned Books Week Blues

In honor of this year’s Banned Books Week celebrations, Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, North Carolina, created the music video Subterranean Banned Book Blues, a takeoff on the 1965 video for the Bob Dylan song “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”

The video, filmed in the alleyway next to the bookstore, features a staffer flipping through signs noting the kinds of content that deem a book ban-worthy, as well as a ticker highlighting titles of banned books.

The tune includes lyrics like, “Johnny’s in the basement / reading Captain Underpants / I’m on the pavement / Thinking about the Hunger Games.” The song was created by the Scuppernong Working Group, which includes Will Carter, Brian Etling, Shannon Jones, Brian Lampkin, Steve Mitchell, and Rachel York, who is also the featured singer.

See the full video and lyrics on YouTube.