About Bookstores

“The big takeaway from Events University was that launching a festival is feasible, and it is possible to do it without an army,” said Gathering Volumes owner Denise Phillips.

The co-owner of Politics & Prose, Bradley Graham, recently spoke with BTW about what the store does every year in its role as the official bookseller for the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.

Sidekick to open; Palabras celebrates four years; Books Inc. remodels; Bookmarks recognized by school librarians; Half Price to be exclusive retailer for Mary Kay on People Management; Books Are Magic to sell “Melt the Guns” totes; Carmichael’s, The Open Door, Vintage, Weller Book Works, BookBar, Tattered Cover, Boulder, Book Soup, The Last Bookstore, Skylight, Vroman’s featured in local news. 

Bookselling This Week once again offers a roundup of the dogs, cats, and other creatures that make indie bookstores their homes.

As booksellers, said Patty Norman of Copperfield’s Books, “our biggest job is that kids feel like they’re recognized and respected and welcomed in bookstores, whoever they are.”

Sandcastle Tales opens; Erin Rivera takes over Frugal Frigate; Book + Bottle, Madison Street to open; Sweetwood, Adventure Bound, Ivy move; Narrow Gauge celebrates first year; Branches Books and Gifts named Business of the Year; Drew Sieplinga featured on The Moth; Main Street Books, Brewster, Third Street, The Bookstore, Love’s Sweet Arrow, Nantucket Bookworks, Wild Detectives, Porter Square, Northshire, Jane Addams, Old Town, Birchbark, Books Are Magic, Turnrow, Literati featured in local news. 

Mother-daughter duo and avid romance readers Marissa and Roseann Backlin opened Love’s Sweet Arrow, a new and used romance bookstore, in Tinley Park, Illinois, this past June. 

Books on the Pond now open; Lark and Owl to host grand opening; Rediscovered, Half Price to open new locations; Patchouli Joe’s to open; Between Books 2.0 relocates; Cabot St. sold, renamed Copper Dog Books; Weller Book Works, Yellowknife Book Cellar, Main Street celebrate anniversaries; Staff changes at Seminary Coop; Doylestown to offer subscription service; Source, Pages, Underground Railroad Reading Station, Carmichael’s, Ripped Bodice, Phoenix, Semicolon, Browseabout, Wild Detectives, Book Barn, Village Square, Malaprop’s, Trident, Pagination mentioned in local news. 

Bookstore employees, publishing professionals, authors, and bookstore shoppers can all submit bonus nominations on behalf of any current indie bookstore employee of an ABA member store.

BTW spoke to four owners of smaller and/or micro-stores stores who offered insight on how they manage pre-orders and what they do to promote the option to customers. 

High Five, Commonplace Reader to open; Women & Children First, Norwich celebrate anniversaries; Michelle Haring named Bookseller of the Year by RWA; Half Price named best bookstore in San Antonio; New Dominion bookseller makes Good Night Moon-inspired sign; Bookshop Santa Cruz launches Bookshop Caucus; Bookmarks to host 15th annual Festival of Books & Authors; Book Suey, Birchbark, Second Star to the Right, The Last Bookstore, Binnacle, Hennessey & Ingalls, Harbor Books, McNally Jackson, Changing Hands featured in local news.

House of Books, Writers’ Workshoppe under new ownership; Hooray for Books reopens; Square, Chapters, Bridgeside celebrate anniversaries; Midtown Reader bookseller to compete on Jeopardy; Books & Books, Silver Unicorn, Curious Iguana, Turning the Page, Round Table, Book Exchange and Bible Bookstore, M. Judson, Gibson’s, Toadstool, White Birch, Innisfree, Water Street, Monkey See Monkey Do, Deep Vellum, Wild Detectives featured in local news.

Penguin Bookshop, which opened in 1929, will be celebrating 90 years in business this October.

The second quarter of 2019 saw 30 ABA member store openings and five sales of existing businesses to new owners. Among the openings are a romance bookstore, a bookmobile, and new branches of established bookstores.

Semicolon, Fables now open; Book Club, Commonplace Reader to open this year; Womrath under new ownership; Loyalty plans second location; Bartleby’s, Covered Treasures, Pageturners celebrate anniversaries; Square Books hosts art installation at local gallery; Yankee, Run for Cover, Riffraff, Sundog, I Know You Like a Book, Lit. On Fire, The Book Nook, The Bookshop, Charis featured in local news.