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Printer-friendly versionMcIntyre’s Celebrates 25 Years
Congratulations to McIntyre’s Books of Pittsboro, North Carolina, which celebrated its 25th anniversary with a party on Wednesday evening, April 16. The store is part of the small country village of Fearrington, founded by R.B. and Jenny Fitch in 1974, near Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh. In addition to McIntyre’s, Fearrington's Village Center is home to boutique shops, gourmet restaurants, and a spa.
McIntyre’s, which opened on April 21, 1989, with R.B. and Jenny’s daughter, Keebe Fitch, at the helm, offers a full roster of author events, a hand-picked inventory, and a dedicated staff.
As part of this week’s celebrations, customers were invited to swing by the store to sign up for a book giveaway and a 25 percent off sale.
Books Inc. Bookseller Sets Record
Bill Dito of California’s Books Inc. in the Marina recently set the Books Inc. company record for most books sold by a single bookseller, out of a single location. Ditto was recently feted with party at the store for handselling 5,000 copies of David Benioff’s City of Thieves (Plume) and was presented with a personal letter of thanks from author.
"How did you do that, Bill? What drug did you slip these poor, innocent book buyers? What the hell did you tell them? Is is true you threw the novel at someone and he ended up buying it?” Benioff wrote.
“WHAT? How did that happen? Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying thank you. I'm stunned and grateful and gratefully stunned. The realization that someone out there is so passionate about my book that he convinced 5,000 strangers to give it a try — well, you've given me a wonderful gift. I only hope the novel is worthy of such a brilliant proponent, or else 5,000 angry strangers will hunt you down."
New York and Seattle Bookstores Featured
In the midst of headlines focusing on New York City’s closing and endangered bookstores, New York magazine this week featured six thriving NYC indie stores and cited the reasons for their success.
McNally Jackson owner Sarah McNally credited the store’s sales numbers to its expansive volume (65,000 books in 7,000 square feet), while Greenlight Bookstore was named for its ability to gain philanthropic support from the community. PowerHouse Arena’s model includes renting its space out as an exhibition hall, party venue, and shoot location, while Three Lives & Company benefitted from the closing of a nearby Barnes & Noble location. Community Bookstore was able to reduce its inherited debt, and the owners of BookCourt attributed the store’s vitality to the fact that they own the building.
Similarly, the bookselling landscape of Seattle, Washington, was profiled by the New York Times as one of the most successful in the country, despite the city’s being home to Amazon’s headquarters.
“A lot of our customers work at Amazon,” Tracy Taylor, the general manager at the The Elliott Bay Book Company, told the Times. The store, which is about a mile from Amazon headquarters, last year earned the “first substantial profit” in almost 20 years, said Taylor.
Additionally, the article mentioned Tom Nissley, a writer, Jeopardy! winner, and former Amazon employee, who last month purchased Santoro’s Books, which he plans to re-open as Phinney Books. Nissley told the paper that he believes local shops have found ways to avoid competition with Amazon and other giants. To that end, he plans to offer a line of paper goods, toys, and vinyl handbags made by the business that his wife, Laura Silverstein, started.
Green Apple to Open Outpost at Video Store
After Le Video, San Francisco’s 34-year-old video store, announced its plans to close, Green Apple Books stepped in to help keep the institution alive. On August 1, Green Apple will expand to open a small retail space in the lower floor of the building owned by Le Video.
Le Video averages about 120 customers on weekdays, while Green Apple draws 500 a day at its flagship store, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The bookstore’s new space will be about 2,400 square feet, which is roughly one-third the size of its main location.
Bookends & Beginnings to Open in June
Bookends & Beginnings, a new independent bookstore, plans to open its doors to the community of Evanston, Illinois, this June. The store will be located in the space formerly occupied by Bookman’s Alley.
“Our goal is to create a vibrant cultural destination and hub of book-centered community for both adults and children,” Bookends & Beginnings owner Nina Barrett told Evanston Now.
Barrett, an author, radio personality, and longtime Evanston resident added, “Evanston has always supported an array of wonderful used, antiquarian, and specialty bookshops, but we think the time is right for a more substantial-sized, knowledgeably curated, general-interest store.”
Barrett says the shop will offer a mixture of new, used, and specially discounted books.
Ye Olde Warwick Marks Two Years
This weekend, Ye Olde Warwick Book Shoppe in Warwick, New York, will be celebrating its second anniversary and recent expansion.
The store has grown from 900 to 1,200 square feet to include a second floor and a “kiddie korner.” The local Chamber of Commerce will host a Grand Reopening ribbon cutting on Friday, and the store will hold its annual anniversary sale throughout the weekend.
Phoenix Books Hosts Poetry Fest
In honor of this month’s designation as National Poetry Month, last week Burlington, Vermont’s Phoenix Books celebrated with a Poetry Fest.
The event, which drew more than 60 people to the store, featured acclaimed local poets Leland Kinsey, Daniel Lusk, Kerrin McCadden, and Angela Patten, who performed readings and signed copies of their collections.