Around Indies

Christian Science Monitor Details Indie Resurgence

Last Sunday, the Christian Science Monitor published an in-depth cover story detailing “the novel resurgence of independent bookstores.” The piece began by citing the Mystic, Connecticut, community that rallied to help reopen Bank Square Books in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

The article also credited many indie booksellers’ knack for business for the resurgence, like Daniel Goldin of Milwaukee’s Boswell Book Company, who was a book buyer for many years before buying his store, and BookPeople’s Steve Bercu, who added a new dimension to his business by hosting a popular summer camp each year.

Another encouraging sign for indies is the expansion of many stores, CSM said, pointing to Trident Booksellers & Café in Boston, which recently added a second floor; Bookbug in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which doubled in size in 2011; and Brooklyn’s WORD, which is opening a second branch in Jersey City.

The piece also acknowledged Matt and Jessilyn Norcross, owners of Petoskey, Michigan’s McLean & Eakin, who have brought their store into the digital age. The store’s weekly e-mail newsletter is distributed to 4,000 subscribers, in a town where the year-round population is 5,000.

Watermark Hosts Event in Support of Sales Tax Fairness

On Tuesday, March 19, Sarah Bagby, owner of Watermark Books and Café, hosted an event at her store in support of the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 (S.336), as reported by the Wichita Eagle. The event featured local business owners, as well as Jason Klindt of the Alliance for Main Street Fairness. The Marketplace Fairness Act would give states the right to require remote retailers doing more than $1 million in gross, out-of-state sales annually to collect and remit sales to the state.

“Its time has come,” said Bagby, whose business also sells products online, the Eagle article noted.

Greg Hephner of Hephner TV and Electronics, stated that showrooming has become a big issue. “Most consumers like to touch and feel, and that’s why they are starting to talk about the ‘showrooming’ phenomenon …. The Internet has one thing to offer: price. Nothing else. Local retailers can offer price, but can also offer assistance, instruction and that social aspect, which is so much more than price.”

Beach Books Moves to Larger Space

Author Erica Bauermeister (center) joined "the Beach Book babes" for the store's grand opening in its new location.

Beach Books in Seaside, Oregon, recently moved to a more visible, much larger location. The new space, which is approximately two and a half times larger, includes a mezzanine with a much-needed event space. “The response of the community has been terrific and so many visitors have said ‘I’m so glad there is finally a bookstore in Seaside’ even though Beach Books occupied its previous space for seven and half years,” said store president Karen Emmerling. The additional space not only accommodates a larger inventory, but also art supplies, magazines, and a greater selection of cards.

Author Erica Bauermeister (The Lost of Art of Mixing, Putnam) joined store staff and customers for the new location’s grand opening weekend.

Busboys & Poets to Open Another Branch

Last week, Andy Shallal, the owner of Busboys and Poets, in Washington, D.C., announced plans to open another branch, which will serve the District community of Takoma and the neighboring city of Takoma Park in Maryland.

Busboys & Poets has been seen as a symbol of gentrification. The place “gives people possibilities and opportunities to intersect,” Shallal told the Washington Post. “I think people love to connect with one another; it’s just we don’t know how to do it… when the possibilities are laid before us, right in front of our eyes, we tend to jump on the opportunity.”

Neighboring businesses are looking forward to the opportunities the new location will bring to the community.

Pittsburgh Nonprofit to Open Bookstore

City of Asylum, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, nonprofit that assists exiled or politically oppressed writers, plans to open the Alphabet City Literary Center, a space that will feature a bookstore, café, and performance center.

The new space is expected to open in spring 2014 and will offer visitors a free book distribution program, classrooms, and a recording and broadcast-equipped performance center, Elizabeth Baisley, a spokeswoman for City of Asylum, told TribLive.

The literary center is part of a larger revitalization effort by the city.

“Being able to position this in the business center of the North Side will be a tremendous advantage for us in terms of developing audiences,” Baisley said.