Around Indies

Community Cookbook Store Opens in Seattle

On Wednesday, October 12, Lara Hamilton opened Book Larder, Seattle’s only store dedicated to cookbooks and culinary events. Paul Constant shared photos of the store on Google+.

After working for Microsoft for 15 years, Hamilton decided she wanted to do something different — something with food. Through Twitter, she connected with Kim Ricketts, owner of Kim Ricketts Book Events and the organizer of Cooks & Books — an event that brings together chefs, cookbook authors, and fans. Shortly thereafter, Hamilton quit her job and began working for Ricketts. When Ricketts was diagnosed with a terminal illness, she told Hamilton that she was going to sell the company and advised her to go forward with the cookbook store — an idea the two had been contemplating together.

“Ricketts died in April, leaving a hole in the heart of Seattle’s culinary community,” the Seattle Times reported. “But not before noticing a ‘for lease’ sign on a former florist shop and pointing Hamilton in that direction — and selling her the book events company.”

Book Larder is a community cookbook store located in a neighborhood with several nearby dining options. The store offers cooking instruction by celebrated chefs and signings by cookbook authors.

“If this experience has taught me anything, it’s that you can’t wait for stuff to happen,” Hamilton told the Times.

East Village Community Rallies to Save St. Mark’s Bookshop

About 40,000 people have signed a petition urging the owner of the building where New York’s St. Mark’s Bookshop is located to reduce the store’s rent so the 35-year-old indie can stay in business. CBS New York reported that the store’s owners are seeking a reduction in rent from The Cooper Union, the building’s owner, from $20,000 to $15,000 per month. They say it is a necessity to keep their business going.

The petition was started by the Cooper Square Committee — an organization dedicated to preserving the community’s identity. “We’re tired of seeing these small mom-and-pop businesses on the Lower East Side disappearing,” Joyce Ravitz of the committee told CBS News.

“To me the bookstore is a reflection of the community,” said Terry McCoy, co-owner of the shop, told CBS 2′s Vanessa Murdock. McCoy encourages customers to simply buy a book or magazine from the store.

Bank Square Receives Independent Spirit Award

Bank Square Books in downtown Mystic, Connecticut, recently won an Independent Spirit Award from the Book Publishers Reps of New England. The store was presented with the award at the opening plenary of this year’s New England Independent Booksellers Association Fall Conference. The Independent Spirit Award acknowledges excellence in bookselling, creativity in marketing, and community participation.