Thriving Indies in New York , Seattle & New Zealand

Shelf Awareness

In the wake of the closing on Friday of Rizzoli Bookstore and the New York Times's recent article about the effects of high Manhattan commercial rents on bookstores, New York magazine noted that the "familiar tale [is] not about the end of reading, but about New York real estate." In "6 Independent Bookstores Are Thriving--and How They Do It," Boris Kachka and Joshua David Stein profiled two Manhattan and four Brooklyn stores: McNally Jackson Books, Greenlight Bookstore, powerHouse Books, Three Lives & Company, Community Bookstore and BookCourt.

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Photo: Matthew Ryan Williams/NYT

For its part, the Times went far afield for a positive story on indies, offering a feature on how Seattle bookstores are thriving despite--and in a few cases because of--Amazon's presence in the city. "As Amazon has exploded with growth, hiring thousands of tech workers at its downtown headquarters and helping bolster the Seattle economy, local bookstore owners have seen a surprising new side of the company they loved to hate: Many Amazon employees, it turns out, are readers who are not shopping at the company store," the paper wrote.

The story went into detail about Jeopardy! champion and former Amazon books editor Tom Nissley's purchase of Santoro's Books, which he is turning into Phinney Books. (See our interview with him here.)

Kiwi Indies 'Have Reason to Celebrate'

The recent success of New Zealand's independent booksellers "is following trends in the U.S. that saw independent bookstores increase their sales by 9% in 2013," Unlimited magazine reported, adding that when Auckland's the Women's Bookshop "celebrated its 25th birthday last week with a roaring party at Ponsonby Central, it sent a clear message to the publishing world--Kiwi independent bookstores have reason to celebrate."''Almost the entire book trade was at our party," said owner Carole Beu. "It was a buoyant feeling in the room that the book trade is in good health, the independents in particular.... We had the best Christmas last year that we've had in 25 years and 2014 is going strong.''

Even the store's digital strategy is working. Approximately 10% of sales at the Women's Bookshop come from its online store. ''People are politically aware and many think that to support [tax exempt] Amazon is an unethical act," Beu said, adding: "We can often get our books out to customers faster on a courier." Jenna Todd, manager of Time Out Bookstore in Mt. Eden, said: "Our customers come in and say, 'Jenna, I loved that book you recommended to me last time, what's the next book I should read?' It's about making it a really personal experience."

In January, Todd attended the American Booksellers Association Winter Institute in Seattle after receiving a scholarship from Booksellers New Zealand and Kobo. ''In the U.S. there's so much enthusiasm about shopping locally. People really want to spend money in their community,'' she said. ''One of the things I have focused on since I got back is emphasizing our 'localness.' Our paper bags have been reprinted and they say: 'Here's what you just did' and it lists 10 points on the bag about how they have supported the local community.''