About Bookstores

For over 400 years, shipwrecks have landed hapless voyagers on the shores, or in the waters, of Bermuda. Now thousands come eagerly on titanic cruise ships to enjoy the sand, surf, and shops of the balmy island. As the boats reach port in Hamilton, Bermuda's capital and only city, those looking out can see the sign for The Bermuda Book Store awaiting them on the corner of Front and Queen streets.

What should have been a simple transaction almost got Vroman's Bookstore Vice President/General Manager Karen Watkins arrested.

As Watkins tells it, on July 31, a group of three customers brought a box of 4" x 6" writing journals up to the register at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, California. The cashier began scanning the journals -- 11 journals priced at $4.95 each -- and gave the customers the total price.

There were two problems, however.

First, the cashier overcharged the customers by about $5.

Gayle Shanks, co-owner of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, wrote this "letter" to friends of the store, for the bookstore's September e-mail newsletter, BookStories. BTW is grateful for permission to reprint her letter, which is a wonderful travelogue of a true bookperson's busman's holiday.

Dear Bookstore Friends,

While grown men playing a child's game threaten to strike again, a group of children showed a Massachusetts community what baseball's really all about -- fun.

Spicy Old Favorites, Tasty New Treats (and Glimpses of Crazy Uncles in the Parlor)

Over the past decade or so, in the Lake Washington area of Washington state, 12 independent bookstores have closed their doors. However, it's not all doom and gloom. In the lakefront city of Kirkland, there's one independent bookstore that is not only thriving, but growing: Parkplace Books. Currently, the bookstore is expanding from 4,000 square feet to 7,000.

Larry Abramoff credits his "mid-life crisis" as a catalyst for some new directions at his bookstore. After founding Tatnuck Bookseller & Sons in Worcester, Massachusetts, 27 years ago and expanding to five locations (including the main store, which houses a full-service restaurant and publishing company), Abramoff was ready to do some event retooling.

A major Southeast independent bookstore has changed ownership. Perry Tanner, former corporate vice president of marketing for Scientific-Atlanta, has purchased the Atlanta-based Chapter 11 Bookstore from co-founders Barbara Kaufman and Dale Glenn. Terms of the agreement, which was signed on July 31, were not disclosed.

Book Soup, a general-interest bookstore in West Hollywood, California, will soon open a second store in Orange County. Book Soup has earned a staunch following and strong reputation in its 27 years on the Sunset Strip, for its strengths in art, cinema, and music books, and literary fiction.

The second Book Soup will be located in South Coast Plaza, the locally legendary retail mall that's a shopping Mecca for upscale consumers.

Downtown Howell, Michigan, is about to have something new to sing about. Opening officially on September 15 is a 3,000-square-foot general bookstore named Aria Booksellers, complete with a Patagonian conure, a tropical American parrot whose name is Mozart.

In Honk the Moose -- the classic 1935 tale of Boys Tease Moose, Moose Scares Boys, and Boys Save Moose -- Mary Koski, president of Trellis Publishers and a children's book author, found a long out-of-print book that she believed would appeal to children in the 21st century.

A prized spot for Honk the Moose on the Winter 2001/2002 Children's Book Sense 76 resulted in dramatic sales increases, along with second and third printings.

Independent booksellers in Austin and Chicago are protesting the fact that developers could receive multi-million dollar incentives from their respective cities to facilitate retail developments that have signed tenant agreements with national chain Borders Books & Music. The booksellers contend that using financial incentives for developments that solicit national chains is unfair to local retailers.

Harlem USA, the 275,000-square-foot entertainment and retail mall on 125th Street in Manhattan -- the center of one of the nation's largest African-American communities -- will soon have an independent bookstore. According to store co-owner Rita Ewing, a writer and attorney, the Hue-Man Bookstore opens for business on July 29, with a grand opening celebration scheduled for August 1.