About Bookstores

The third quarter of 2019 saw 27 ABA member store openings and 5 sales of existing businesses to new owners.

Otter Lane, Enchanted Chapters, High Five now open; Loyalty, Elliott Bay open new locations; Book Nook, Left Bank mark 50 years; Hearthside, Page 2 move; Midtown Scholar wraps up festival; Orinda owner to speak at event; The Mysterious Bookshop, Next Page, River Lights, Prairie Lights, Crazy Wisdom, Literati, La Playa, Warwick’s, Bluestocking, The Book Catapult, Bay Books, Mysterious Galaxy, Run for Cover, Little Shop of Stories, Brave + Kind, The Story Shop featured in local news.

Husband-and-wife team Drew and Erin Pineda first thought of opening a bookstore together while they were both serving as active duty U.S. Air Force officers in May 2018.

Patterson is pledging a personal contribution of $250,000 to independent bookstore employees, which will be granted in amounts of $500 to 500 individual booksellers. 

All Things Inspiration, Thank You, Auburn Oil Company, Literatus to open; Volumes, Towne Center to open new locations; Bluestocking now open; Poisoned Pen celebrates 30 years; Toadstool Milford location to move; words! goes co-op; Palabras among best of Phoenix; 27th Letter semifinalist in Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest; Paper Boat, Firestorm, Prairie Lights, Seminary Co-op, The Open Book, Wild Detectives, Texian mentioned in local news. 

Nowhere Bookshop will be a community and event-driven space, Lawson said, and will feature a bar. 

Bookselling This Week recently reached out to four bookstore owners after one year in business to talk about what they expected, what surprised them, and what they wished they had known going in.

Author Kelly Link and her husband, Gavin J. Grant, the team behind Small Beer Press, are set to purchase White Square Books, which will reopen under the name Book Moon in early October.

Paper Boat, Sausalito Books by the Bay, new Little City location to open; Sidekick, Completely Booked, Libreria now open; Fables marks three months; Jane Mead dies at 61; MahoganyBooks among top minority business enterprises; Charlie Lovett wins Bookmarks Literary Achievement Award; Read With Me partners with Kid Lab; Book Culture, McNally Jackson, Shakespeare & Co., Neverending Bookshop, WORD Bookstores, Parnassus, Octavia, Pegasus, Moe’s, Mrs. Dalloway’s, University Press mentioned in local news.

Indie booksellers are celebrating Banned Books Week, an annual event that serves as an opportunity for advocates to explain why it is important to preserve everyone’s right to read and view what they want.

The campaign aims to illustrate the work that indie bookstores do for their communities and engage the next generation of career booksellers and local shoppers to come.

The Lion’s Mouth, Charm City to open; BookBar owner to open community book bank; Square Books opens fourth location; Righton hosts grand opening; New owners for Orinda; Mr. Mopps moves; Greenlight celebrates 10 years; Danny Caine named Midwest Bookseller of the Year; Personnel changes at Quail Ridge; Blue Manatee hosts raffle; Wild Rumpus, Published Page, Next Chapter, The Last Bookstore featured in local news.

ABA’s new award celebrates booksellers whose ideas, creativity, and execution have improved operations, fostered community relationships, inspired new efficiencies, created a more inclusive environment, and/or increased sales.  

Bookselling This Week’s new column highlights younger indie booksellers who are having a positive impact on their stores and communities.

Bookselling This Week collected several social media posts from bookstores in the southeastern U.S. that are recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Dorian.