Just a Great Big Post About the Wonderful World of Bookstores: Big Ones, Little Ones, Running One, and Why They Matter. Plus, I Introduce You to the Fantastic Mr. Barton
What a fabulous post on bookstores, Joel. Powells is nirvana for book lovers. King's Books in Detroit is also heaven for readers.
I've worked in bookstores since I was a teenager (I'm 71 now). I do want to point out that new bookstores have a very different financial model from used bookstores and are often easier to stay profitable. Profit margin starts at 100% for used bookstores, whereas new stores have a 30-40% margin (if that). The biggest problem both new and used stores face is rent. Many great stores in the Los Angeles area closed their physical shops and moved online because of a massive rent increase. I'm so glad to see that more bookstores are staying open.
Quick story: I was working at Book Soup in the early 2000's and spied a cop browsing in the travel section. I went over and thanked him for coming into the store, and he said, "Sometimes I like to stop at a bookstore to get a little peace from the streets".
I love exploring used bookstores in other cities. Once, on a guys trip to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals play, we had some time to kill, so I suggested we check out a used bookstore I had noticed. It was great - packed full of interesting books. I picked up a history of Belle Meade (a suburb of Nashville, TN that I live near), written by my neighbor's grandfather. Then we found a copy of a biography of President James K. Polk that one of our party had written years ago when he was working on his Ph.D at 'Bama! We all got a good laugh at the picture of his much younger self on the cover.
Despite living in the country, the nearest towns have an abundance of used and new bookstores, which means I seldom come back from a shopping excursion without having bought books - fortunately for my pocketbook, I don't often shop.
Athens, Greece has a lot of bookstores and even book kiosks. The most interesting to me was the outlet store of Aiora, an independent publishing company - they published the Greek/English hardcover pocket edition of Hippocrates' Aphorisms that I brought home with me.
Regarding the question of low margins, the Wild Detectives in Dallas is a combination of bookstore and bar, which no doubt is good for the bottom line. I wonder if that combination is common elsewhere?
My first bookshops were Baroque Books owned by Red Stodolsky & St Marks Book Shop owned by Bob & Terry, one in LA & the other in NYC in the 70s, those were my formative book shops along with Bound Together & City Lights from the early 80s on in San Francisco…I always knew from then on in any city I was in I needed to find a good book shop first…
Mothership indeed! Powell's is my happy place, and I'm usually content to visit the Cedar Hills location, closer to my house with free parking and still ginormous, tho of course nothing even close to that entire city block downtown.
I keep putting off writing a Substack about the old Brit TV Show, "Black's Books." To sum up, it's about three misfit drunks, not running, let's see what's the word, impeding, a bookstore. As well, the TV Show The Lowdown, the main character owns a bookshop. Ah, all this makes me want to own my own little bookshop. Maybe a little bigger than a closet.
The casual “along with the groom” is everything!
We were killing anxious time the very best way!
A fitting and fabulous ode to bookstores - well said indeed, Joel!
Thanks, Nate! I do love a bookstore.
I've definitely found some treasures at Second Story Books!
I definitely hope to go someday!
What a fabulous post on bookstores, Joel. Powells is nirvana for book lovers. King's Books in Detroit is also heaven for readers.
I've worked in bookstores since I was a teenager (I'm 71 now). I do want to point out that new bookstores have a very different financial model from used bookstores and are often easier to stay profitable. Profit margin starts at 100% for used bookstores, whereas new stores have a 30-40% margin (if that). The biggest problem both new and used stores face is rent. Many great stores in the Los Angeles area closed their physical shops and moved online because of a massive rent increase. I'm so glad to see that more bookstores are staying open.
Quick story: I was working at Book Soup in the early 2000's and spied a cop browsing in the travel section. I went over and thanked him for coming into the store, and he said, "Sometimes I like to stop at a bookstore to get a little peace from the streets".
I love exploring used bookstores in other cities. Once, on a guys trip to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals play, we had some time to kill, so I suggested we check out a used bookstore I had noticed. It was great - packed full of interesting books. I picked up a history of Belle Meade (a suburb of Nashville, TN that I live near), written by my neighbor's grandfather. Then we found a copy of a biography of President James K. Polk that one of our party had written years ago when he was working on his Ph.D at 'Bama! We all got a good laugh at the picture of his much younger self on the cover.
Despite living in the country, the nearest towns have an abundance of used and new bookstores, which means I seldom come back from a shopping excursion without having bought books - fortunately for my pocketbook, I don't often shop.
Athens, Greece has a lot of bookstores and even book kiosks. The most interesting to me was the outlet store of Aiora, an independent publishing company - they published the Greek/English hardcover pocket edition of Hippocrates' Aphorisms that I brought home with me.
Regarding the question of low margins, the Wild Detectives in Dallas is a combination of bookstore and bar, which no doubt is good for the bottom line. I wonder if that combination is common elsewhere?
Poor Richard’s in Colorado Springs is attached to a wine bar. I think a lot of successful shops are connected to coffee shops, too.
My first bookshops were Baroque Books owned by Red Stodolsky & St Marks Book Shop owned by Bob & Terry, one in LA & the other in NYC in the 70s, those were my formative book shops along with Bound Together & City Lights from the early 80s on in San Francisco…I always knew from then on in any city I was in I needed to find a good book shop first…
Thank you for mentioning Nooks! I'm a bookseller there and it's one of my very favorite places 🥰
Don’t throw me in that briarpatch!
Substacker Winston Malone owns Enchanted Books@The Block in Rio Rancho, NM. (@Winston Malone from Enchanted Books)
Mothership indeed! Powell's is my happy place, and I'm usually content to visit the Cedar Hills location, closer to my house with free parking and still ginormous, tho of course nothing even close to that entire city block downtown.
also, my fave is Books and Books in Coral Gables.
I keep putting off writing a Substack about the old Brit TV Show, "Black's Books." To sum up, it's about three misfit drunks, not running, let's see what's the word, impeding, a bookstore. As well, the TV Show The Lowdown, the main character owns a bookshop. Ah, all this makes me want to own my own little bookshop. Maybe a little bigger than a closet.
MC Paul Barman “Anarchist Bookstore, Part 1”
https://mcpb.bandcamp.com/track/anarchist-bookstore-part-1
I grew up in Fayetteville, AR, so I cut my teeth on the heavenly Dickson Street Bookshop. So many glorious hours spent lost in the stacks!