St. Louis Community Rallies Around The Book House

In response to last week’s news that St. Louis, Missouri’s The Book House is being forced to leave its current location by July, the community is rallying in an effort to save the business, according to KSDK.

Book House supporters have circulated a petition asking the city of Rock Hill (a suburb of St. Louis) to keep its more than 150-year-old home from being torn down to make way for a storage facility. The petition has about 1,600 signatures. There is also a Facebook campaign collecting donations to help the store stay in business, and owner Michelle Barron has recently launched an IndieGoGo campaign to raise money. Ideally, Barron said, someone would buy the building for what she estimates would be about $300,000 and allow her to keep operating.

Mysterious Galaxy Celebrates 20 Years

On May 8, 1993, Mysterious Galaxy opened in San Diego with more than a dozen authors in attendance. Since then, the store has opened a second location in Redondo Beach, hosted hundreds of author events, participated in numerous community events, and sold millions of books. The Mystery Writers of America honored Mysterious Galaxy with its 2013 Raven Award, in recognition of its “outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside of creative writing.”

“We believe books matter,” said Events Coordinator Maryelizabeth Hart. “And we believe booksellers matter. And we feel that achieving this landmark is a recognition of that shared belief in the publishing community and its support of us, from authors to readers.”

This Saturday, May 11, Mysterious Galaxy will mark its 20^th anniversary with an all-day gala celebration. Authors David Brin and Alan Russell, who were at Mysterious Galaxy for its opening, will be among the more than 20 authors participating in the anniversary celebration. Attendees will be treated to thematic spotlight author appearances throughout the day, as well as cake and other refreshments.

McNally Jackson’s Goods for the Study Opens

This Wednesday, New York City’s McNally Jackson opened its new store, Goods for the Study, in a small, 400-square-foot space, around the corner from the bookstore on Mulberry Street.

The new store carries desks, lamps, pens, tape-dispensers, erasers, stationery, rulers, pencil cases, prints, as well as “other things that will furnish your study and enrich your desk life,” McNally Jackson announced in a press release. “We believe that the life of the mind deserves a space of its own.”

Horizon Books Credits Success to Past Expansion

In a recent Traverse City Record-Eagle feature, Horizon Books is credited for bringing business to the city’s downtown area.

Twenty years ago, when the bookstore outgrew its space, owners Vic Herman and Amy Reynolds purchased a vacant former J.C. Penney storefront in downtown Traverse City and business boomed. In the first year in the new location, the bookstore doubled its sales. Many of the surrounding vacant storefronts soon filled up, and the bookstore’s neighbors benefited as well.

“When we moved into that building, the business next to us doubled their sales also,” said Herman. “It just brought people into that area, and I think it kind of helped put some life back into the town.”

Herman said owning the building helped the store survive when Borders moved to the area three years later, and Horizon’s sales dropped by 15 percent. On the flip side, sales increased significantly when Borders closed in 2011.

Vero Beach Book Center Consolidates

In an effort to reduce costs and focus on books and events, Vero Beach Book Center in Vero Beach, Florida, is reducing in size from 20,000 square feet to 12,500.

The store will be moving its stock into its soon-to-be-renovated children’s store. The change will take place this summer, after renovations are complete.

“We’ve got to change with the times,” owner Chad Leonard told Vero News. “Big book stores aren’t going to exist as much anymore. The small mammals survive while the big dinosaurs die off.”

Five Stone Bookstore Marks First Anniversary

This Saturday, Five Stone Bookstore in Lebanon Valley, Pennsylvania, will celebrate its first anniversary. Festivities will include appearances by four local authors from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Owners T. Chuck Garman and Bryan Foster opened the store in a former Waldenbooks space in the Lebanon Valley Mall, where they sell new and used books.

“It’s amazing how fast the year went,” Garman told the Lebanon Daily News. “There were tough patches along the way as with any venture, but, in hindsight, it’s all valuable education.”

Bookstore to Open in Cincinnati

This July, Neil Van Uum, the owner of The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis, Tennessee, will open The Booksellers on Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, in a former Brooks Brothers location, the Business Courier reported. In addition to books, the store will house a creperie and coffee bar.

“Our community downtown continues to grow, and I see The Booksellers on Fountain Square as the missing piece in this diverse landscape,” said Van Uum.

BookCourt Launches Campaign to Open Upstate Location

The owners of BookCourt, which opened in Brooklyn, New York, in 1981, want to create a BookCourt North.

An IndieGoGo campaign has been launched to raise funds for the purchase of the legendary Bibliobarn property in New York’s Catskill Mountains with the aim of converting it into a bookshop, event space, and writers’ retreat.