Friday: Indie Bookstores in the News

After an extended holiday hiatus, Empty Shelves has returned! And what better way than to kick off the new year than a round up of the subjectively important indie bookstore news of 2012?

First, several indie bookstores are packing up and moving out of their space. No, they didn't go bankrupt. Yes, they can still pay their rent. They're just switching locations. A Capella Books (fun website, by the way) in Atlanta will be moving by February 1st to a location that they

hope will experience more foot traffic. But for the popular Iowa City Defunct Books, the store owners are actually being kicked out by building owners who want to use the space for something different. This is really a shame considering the continued success of the store. In the article linked above, the owner says new locations are still being scouted.

40-year-old Bodhi Tree Bookstore (pictured left) in Los Angeles closed on the last day of 2011. Bodhi was a niche bookstore selling meditative, philosophy, and other types of zen books. The store will continue selling their inventory online, and hope to open up a new location eventually.

In happier news, St. Louis Today ran an article about the successful year experienced by local indie bookstores in the wake of Borders' closing. Booksellers there appear to be optimistic about the future of their stores and their community.

Friday: Indie Bookstores in the News

Another Friday, another set of indie bookstore news stories. I was hoping to provide an update on RiverRun, the bookstore looking to raise more the $100, 000 before the end of the month, but all I have is this update posted to the store's Twitter page. It would be nice if the proprietors announced the dollar amount they have so far received. I think it can really encourage more donations. I'll try to stay up-to-date on this story.

It wouldn't be Friday news if I didn't have at least one story about the closing of an indie bookstore. The week, it's Catfish Books in Lakeport, CA after 17 years of business. Unsurprisingly (am I getting a little callus?) the store does not have a website.

In other, much happier news, today is the grand opening of Parnassus Books in Nashville. The

New York Times ran a piece about the store and its proprietor, successful novelist Ann Prachett, on Tuesday.

Indie bookstores in St. Louis demonstrate the important role they play in rallying their community as they kick off their book drive for the homeless.

Friday: Indie Bookstores in the News

It's Friday once again. As always, I have been assembling a short list of the most pertinent pieces of industry news to share. This was, unfortunately, a pretty rough week for indie bookstores across America.

In Gainesville, FL, 20-year-old Books, Inc. announced that it will

be closing its doors at the beginning of 2012. I tried to find a website for this store to no avail (insert insensitive commentary here). In a similar vein, 15-year-old Sweet Briar used bookstore in Davis, CA will be closing permanently on Christmas Eve of this year. Again, no website.

RiverRun, an indie bookstore in New Hampshire (photo left is from the website), is now asking for donations from its patrons and community members in order to stay in business. According to the website, the bookstore needs to raise more than $100,000 by November 30th in order to eliminate their debt and rebuild relationships with publishers. The owner said today that more than $55,000 has already been raised. Interested parties can donate through the website.

Friday: Indie Bookstores in the News

It's Friday again and this week presented several big (and exciting!) news stories related in indie bookstores. Here are my top three picks from the week:

In a surprising turn of events, Cooper Union has announced that they will be lowering the rent of St. Mark's Bookshop, allowing the store to stay in business. This is contrary to the announcement I posted last week, and is wonderful (if not particularly capitalistic) news. I've been following this story since the inception of the blog and have to say, I'm pretty pleased.

BlogHer ran an interesting story about Roxanne Coady, the owner of R.J. Julia Booksellers (pictured left) in Connecticut. It's a pretty inspirational read.

And finally, simply because I haven't posted anything about indie bookstores in the UK for awhile, the BBC published this article about The Book Barge. It's a travelling bookshop the owner is using to promote indie bookselling.

Friday: Indie Bookstores in the News

I've been very MIA this week; with midterms and papers due, not to mention a crazy pickup at my job, I haven't really had too much time to devote to the blog. That said, I've been doing a lot thinking about indie bookstores. Especially with the big news that rent for St. Mark's Bookshop will not be reduced. I'll be in New York next week, and definitely plan to stop by since I've never been before and may never get to go again.

Still, things are not all bad for the indie bookstores of America. Brookline Booksmith (pictured left) in Boston will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary all next week.

Paid Content also ran a great article today about the rise of indie e-bookstores.

Although things have been a little insane, I have great ambitions for this blog next week. I want to talk about the Kramer Books in DC, discuss fixed book prices in other parts of the world, and plan a mini-bookstore tour for New York.

Friday: Indie Bookstores in the News

Bear with me as I try to write and post this on my phone. I'll be spending most of the day in transit, but I want to get this post out so I don't break tradition. So, without further ado, here are three big stories about indie bookselling in this week's news:

Yesterday metro media ran a great piece about the important role indies play in their communities.

On Wednesday, supportors of St. Marks Bookshop serenaded Cooper Union's president, pleading with him to save the store.

In today's New York Times, there is an article about WORD, a unique bookstore in Brooklyn that is all about building a community of book lovers.

Friday: Indie Bookstores in the News

It's Friday folks! Per tradition, here is a roundup of the biggest indie bookstore related news from this week:

An ambitious bookseller has salvaged the remains of a Borders in San Francisco, creating his own store, ODE, in its place. The name is an economical re-purposing of the letters already plastered to the building. Read more in the New York Times.

In more San Francisco news, pop-up bookstores are apparently all the rage this month. The concept is much like that of pop-up restaurants; booksellers rent out a real, brick-and-mortar space for a month or so, then close up shop and move somewhere else. It's an interesting business model that I'll likely explore in a separate post.

The New York Times had an interesting profile on Sarah McNally, owner of McNally Jackson Books in New York. In the article, McNally talks about running her store, acquiring the only Espresso Book Machine in NYC, and, of course, her love a books.

The Espresso Book Machine

Friday: Indie Bookstores in the News

Here is my totally subjective list of the top three news stories about independent bookstores in the US and UK for this week:

1. After 32 years of business, Sonoma Bookends will close its doors next week, leaving only two independent bookstores open for business (one of which specializes in rare books).

2. Independent book retailers in the UK are asking the government to fix book prices in order to maintain the presence of bookshops on the high street.

3. Some in Seattle are considering the closing of a large, local Barnes & Noble to be good news for the independently owned Elliott Bay Book Company.