Around Indies

Booksellers Talk Small Business Needs in Washington

Four booksellers attended this week’s Small Business Leadership Summit at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., alongside 200 other small businesses from throughout the country.

From left: Bradley Graham, Betsy Burton, Christin Evans, and Kris Kleindienst

Attending the summit were Bradley Graham of Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C.; Betsy Burton of The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, Utah; Christin Evans of The Booksmith in San Francisco and Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, California; and Kris Kleindienst of Left Bank Books in St. Louis, Missouri.

At the summit, which ran May 11–13, attendees met with Maria Contreras-Sweet, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar, and other leaders to discuss access to capital and other issues of import to small businesses.

Stay tuned for a full report on booksellers’ participation in the summit in next week’s issue of Bookselling This Week.

Moravian Book Shop to Add Second Location

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania’s Moravian Book Shop & Gift Gallery is planning to open a branch store in downtown Allentown, the Morning Call reported. The store, which was founded in 1745, lays claim to being the oldest continuously operating bookstore in the world.

The new, 3,800-square-foot space, which will include the bookstore and gift shop, is located in an 11-story office building that on its retail level houses a restaurant, jewelry store, flower shop, and Starbucks. Allentown’s retail district is in the midst of a revitalization, with plans underway to add 30 new shops to the area by Labor Day.

“Bethlehem will always be our home,” said Moravian’s board president, Richard Santee. “We feel confident that a satellite location in Allentown will not diminish or adversely affect the foot traffic, patronage, sales, or our commitment to our Main Street Bethlehem location.”

Browseabout Books Marks 40 Years

In Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Browseabout Books celebrated its 40th anniversary on Independent Bookstore Day, May 2, with story times, giveaways and prizes, and a champagne toast with Governor Jack Markell, State Senator Ernie Lopez, and Delaware House Speaker Peter Schwartzkopf, the Cape Gazette reported.

Steve and Barbara Crane opened Browseabout in May 1975 in Wilmington. Four decades and several moves later, the shop is now housed in a former open-air mall, with enough space to sell gifts and toys alongside a selection of books.

“Our concept all along was not so much to be a book store, it was more to be a store for people to shop in and have fun,” Steve Crane told the Cape Gazette. “Our love was always books.”

The store’s longevity can be attributed to the staff’s open and friendly attitude and its dedicated customers, said Crane, who is happy to see visits from the third and fourth generations of families.

The owners are still present at the store but have handed the day-to-day operations over to a management team that includes general manager Susan Kehoe and assistants Noemi Todos, Alex Colevas, and Laura Adam.

New Co-Owners Join Brookline Booksmith

Brookline Booksmith, located in Brookline, Massachusetts, is welcoming two new members to its ownership team.

Backlist, calendar, and art supplies buyer Lisa Gozashti, who has been with the store since 1999, and operations and personnel manager Peter Win, a team member since 2010, are taking co-ownership of the store alongside manager Dana Brigham and founder Marshall Smith.

Co-owner Evelyn Vigo, who served as controller/treasurer for the bookstore, retired earlier this year, and her duties are being assumed by Tim Huggins, the founder of Newtonville Books.

Brigham said she and Smith are looking forward “to continuing on with the youthful energy, creativity, and commitment Lisa and Peter bring to our ever-fuller table of selection, service, and style in all we do here at the ’Smith.”