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Books & Books Named PW Bookstore of the Year
Printer-friendly versionMiami’s Books & Books has won this year’s Publishers Weekly Bookstore of the Year Award. In an announcement on Monday, PW also named HarperCollins’ Jennifer Sheridan as Rep of the Year.
Books & Books owner Mitchell Kaplan has grown the business, which he started in a 500-square-foot space in Coral Gables in 1982, to three locations in Florida and one in the Cayman Islands, PW noted. He also has an affiliate store in Westhampton Beach, New York, with Jack McKeown and Denise Berthiaume, and is a partner in stores in Miami International Airport, at the Southeast Financial Center in downtown Miami, and at the Coral Gables Museum. Books & Books’ flagship store in Coral Gables boasts a full-service café and hosts more than 60 events a month in a 9,000-square-foot location, which is on the Register of Historic Places. Books & Books’ other Florida stores are on Lincoln Road in South Beach and in the Bal Harbour Shops.
Books & Books also encompasses a publishing arm, which has released close to a dozen titles since its launch five years ago, PW said. And Kaplan is a partner with Paula Mazur in the film production company Mazur Kaplan Company.
A former ABA president, Kaplan is the co-founder of Miami Book Fair International. He also serves on the advisory council for the American Booksellers for Free Expression. In 2011, he received the National Book Foundation’s “Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.”
Rep of the Year, Sheridan, was nominated by a number of booksellers and children’s authors, PW said. In addition to selling adult and children’s frontlist and backlist titles to bookstores, wholesalers, and distributors, she serves as a liaison between HarperCollins’ New York office and field and telesales reps around the country. Before becoming a sales rep, Sheridan was an independent bookseller for 15 years.
The winners will receive their awards in May at BookExpo America 2015 and will also be featured in the May 4 pre-BEA issue of Publishers Weekly magazine.