Green Apple Named PW Bookstore of the Year

Publishers Weekly has named San Francisco’s Green Apple Books its 2014 Bookstore of the Year. The 47-year-old store, owned by Kevin Hunsanger, Kevin Ryan, and Pete Mulvihill, was nominated by another Bay Area bookseller: Sheryl Cotleur, the frontlist buyer at Copperfield’s Books in Sebastopol, California.

In its announcement last Friday, PW noted that Green Apple Books “has earned a name for itself for community involvement: for founding the San Francisco Locally Owned Merchants Association, participating on the boards of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association and the Clement Street Merchants Association, and advising Litquake and the San Francisco Library’s One City One Book program. In addition, Green Apple is the driving force behind this year’s 93-store strong inaugural California Bookstore Day, which is loosely based on Record Store Day and could serve as a prototype for a national bookstore celebration.” It has also has garnered strong customer support by creating “fun and quirky” promotions, unique partnerships, and popular YouTube videos and commercials.

Publishers Weekly also announced Teresa Rolfe Kravtin of Southern Territory Associates as its 2014 Rep of the Year. The nomination from children’s book author and illustrator Elizabeth O. Dulemba praised Kravtin for “going above and beyond,” PW said. Kravtin’s previous honors include Regional Rep of the Year for Penguin and Sales Representative of the Year by the then Southeast Booksellers Association.