Around Indies

Here’s what’s happening in the world of indie bookstores this week:

Miriam Chan at The Lev

Miriam Chan has launched a pop-up bookstore for women in Los Angeles called The Lev. The store recently hosted writer and illustrator Mari Andrew and will soon hold an event with writer Zinzi Clemmons.

Poetic Justice Books & Arts opened this month in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.

Briars & Brambles Books will open in Windham, New York, in July.

On June 22, owner David Craddock will hold a grand opening celebration for A New Chapter bookstore in Lewisburg, West Virginia. “We don’t even have a sign out yet,” said Craddock, “but business has been good.”

Solid State Books, which has been operating as a pop-up shop in Washington, D.C.’s Atlas District, is adding beer, wine, and pastries to its offerings later this month.

Storybrooke Café in Englewood, Ohio, has applied for a license to serve beer and wine in the bookstore café. The store is also planning a name change and an increase in special events.

Let’s Play Books! in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, is partnering with natural parenting business Ju-Ju Monkey, which will bring a small selection of inventory to the bookstore and offer children’s and parenting classes.

Winchester Book Gallery, a 46-year-old store located in Winchester, Virginia, is moving down the block, from 185 North Loudon Street to 7 North Loudon Street, at the end of July, its first move in 44 years. The new single-level location offers more space for author events, book clubs, and game nights. “We are very excited to be moving down the block in Old Town, where we will continue this great literary tradition and work hard to help the Book Gallery celebrate 50 years in 2022!” said owner Christine Patrick.

Violet Valley Bookstore, a queer feminist bookstore that opened last fall in Water Valley, Mississippi, serves as a “beacon of hope and pride and love,” according to the Daily Mississippian. “Violet Valley Bookstore is a place that says to queer youth, and the LGBTQ community as a whole: we want you here. You’re welcome here,” said owner Jaime Harker. “You are part of a vast and beautiful tribe, and we love you because of who you are, not in spite of it.”

Oregon Business featured Klindt’s Booksellers, located in The Dalles, Oregon, as an example of bookstores standing “the test of time in a rural community experiencing rapid change.” The store opened in 1870 and is now owned by Kristin Klindt and her husband, Joaquin Perez.

Margot Farris, a founding partner of {pages} a bookstore in Manhattan Beach, California, is planning to retire.

Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina, has won the Best of the Triangle 2018 Best Bookstore award from Indy Week newspaper as well as the Best of Downtowner 2018 Independent Bookstore award by Triangle Downtowner Magazine. “These awards really speak to the incredible amount of hard work our staff has put into maintaining established relationships and cultivating new relationships with our customers, as well as the inspiring leadership of our new owner, Lisa Poole, and our management team, led by longtime QRB staff member Sarah Goddin,” said Marketing Manager BrocheAroe Fabian. “We are grateful for the community support in helping to make us the best of the Triangle once again! It has been the perfect way to celebrate our two-year anniversary in our new North Hills home.”

Radney Foster at Downtown Books

Downtown Books in Manteo, North Carolina, recently collaborated with local nonprofit Dare County Arts Council for an event at a local restaurant featuring Radney Foster, a country music singer/songwriter who published the short story collection For You to See the Stars (River’s Edge Media) with an accompanying CD. Bookstore owner Jamie Hope Anderson noted that teaming with local organizations is a great way to maximize publicity and boost attendance. “It’s so hard to figure out the best way to reach people; so much information is bombarding them from every direction. By working with the nonprofit DCAC, we were able to get Radney on our two most popular radio stations the day of the event and got better coverage in local press,” Anderson said.

Share your news in Around Indies! E-mail [email protected] with photos and details of what’s new at your store, whether it’s opening for business, moving to a new location, expanding, changing ownership, hosting a special event, or celebrating a milestone anniversary.