Around Indies

NYT Reports: Indie Bookstores Thriving

Despite the lack of a breakout title this gift-giving season, a wide selection of popular titles has been boosting bookstores’ bottom lines, the New York Times reported on Monday.

Peter Aaron, the owner of The Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, Washington, told the Times that sales were up 15 percent over the Thanksgiving weekend and the store continues to do well in December.

Some booksellers credited President Obama with helping to set the stage by shopping indie at One More Page Books in Arlington, Virginia, on Small Business Saturday. Others, including ABA Vice President Steve Bercu, co-owner of BookPeople in Austin, Texas, reported that they are benefiting from sales of Kobo eReaders, a result of the Kobo/ABA partnership that launched in August.

Bercu told the Times that sales were up 10 percent over last year and that shoppers were buying coffee-table books as well as Kobo devices. ABA President Becky Anderson, co-owner of Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, Illinois, also told the paper that sales were up considerably in her store compared to last year.

Annie Philbrick, an owner of Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut, which was flooded during Hurricane Sandy, told the paper that when the store reopened in mid-November with the help of customers, sales were stronger than they were for the whole month of October.

Monte Cristo Opens

After several months of fundraising and online bookselling, Monte Cristo Bookshop in New London, Connecticut, opened its doors last week with a soft launch. Owners Chris and Gina Jones were welcomed by a very supportive community.

“In a nationwide story of goodwill, we were partially financed by crowd-funding from local funders and unpublished and published authors,” the store’s Facebook page says. “Our customers dictate our store inventory mix as much as we do. We feel it is our responsibility to deliver the best bookstore we can possibly put together to best serve our area.”

Though still a work in progress, Monte Cristo “has come a long way,” reported WTNH.com. The Joneses transformed what was once the Monte Cristo garage and filled it with books and an eclectic mix of furniture. “The stories aren’t only on the shelves,” WTNH noted. “One piece was a bar on a sailboat with the Department of Defense logo carved into it” that now serves as a counter.

Inventory includes works by local authors, and sections on pregnancy and parenting, mysteries, children’s books, and more, as well as titles autographed by some well-known authors.

New Indie Eyes Space in Downtown Ann Arbor

One of the prospective tenants for a prime storefront in downtown Ann Arbor is Literati Bookstore, a new indie that has been looking at potential downtown locations since July, AnnArbor.com reported.

“We are in lease negotiations for the space right now,” store co-owner Hilary Lowe said on Monday. “We wanted something downtown because there are a bunch of great niche stores, but nothing has really replaced Borders as a general bookstore. We wanted to be in that walkable area, and it’s been a challenge to find the right space at the right price.”

The location for the bookstore is still not a given, as building management is undecided on which of three applicants will secure a lease for the space, according to AnnArbor.com.

Lowe and her co-owner and fiancé, Michael Gustafson, have raised money from friends and family for the endeavor and have secured a bank loan.

On their blog, Lowe and Gustafson said in October that they were “closing on a lease soon.”

Cash Mob Descends on Readers’ Books

Over the weekend, Readers’ Books in Sonoma, California, was flooded by a cash mob — a large group of customers who each came to spend a pre-determined amount of money. The store’s staff sent a thank you to its customers via e-mail later that day.

“We were pleasantly surprised ... no, we were wildly astonished at the huge turnout of customers for the Cash Mob at Readers’ Books a few hours ago,” the e-mail read. “Out of nowhere we had 50 people browsing, chatting, and snatching up our wares. It was like a capitalist tornado that passed merrily through our portals, and we could not be more grateful,” the e-mail said.