{"id":270586,"date":"2026-04-16T10:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T10:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/270586\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T10:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T10:33:10","slug":"contributor-a-boom-of-independent-bookstores-just-when-we-need-them-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/270586\/","title":{"rendered":"Contributor: A boom of independent bookstores, just when we need them most"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a blizzard blasted the East Coast in late February, a thousand booksellers from independent bookstores across the U.S. packed their winter gear, changed flights and braved snow to get to Pittsburgh by any means possible. They were there to attend an annual industry event, but this year was not like previous ones. A spirit of community and resistance ran through every interaction.<\/p>\n

In part that reflected a surge in the number of bookstores in the U.S.: According to the American Booksellers Assn., 422 new bookstores opened in 2025, a 31% jump from 2024. \u201cComing out of COVID, people realized life is too short to do something you are not passionate about,\u201d Allison Hill, chief executive of the association, told me. The event in Pittsburgh, Winter Institute, was the biggest one yet, with registration selling out in 40 minutes and hundreds on the waiting list.<\/p>\n

The energy there also reflected the role that bookstores are playing at this moment in American history. Amid fear, frustration and anger, booksellers are providing resources and spaces for learning, organizing and respite.<\/p>\n

Independent bookstores have long been considered third spaces, that place separate from home and work where you can build community. In my hometown of Austin, Texas, Jean Buckner runs Vintage Books and Wine, recommending wine and audiobook pairings. (A recent pairing? \u201cSimply More<\/a>\u201d by Cynthia Erivo with Artoma\u00f1a \u201cXarmant\u201d Arabako Txakolina, 2024.) Reparations Club in Los Angeles hosts a \u201cRead the Room\u201d book club, where attendees sit together and read whatever they desire. Black Bird Bookstore in San Francisco recently introduced a monthly pie and board game night. Matter, in Denver, is not just a bookstore, but a revolutionary print shop, where locals can attend printmaking classes. Comma, in Minneapolis; Black Garnet in St. Paul, Minn.; and other local bookstores have been at the forefront of distributing resources to those affected by immigration raids in the area.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, bookstore chain Barnes & Noble has adjusted its business strategy to match that of independent bookstores, giving each location more ownership over its design and introducing \u201cshelf talkers\u201d and curated staff picks. But the company is owned by a hedge fund, and many readers opt to shop small regardless.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a saying in the book world that nobody opens a bookstore to get rich. Most likely, many of these new bookstores will not survive beyond five years. It\u2019s a tough business, one that brings enormous economic and political challenges. Margins are razor-thin, often 1% to 3% of revenue. Every book sale matters. When Amazon launched in the 1990s, independent bookstores had 30% of the market share; today, that number is around 7%.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s becoming all the more clear and important is how these stores are building these third spaces in the shadow of giant tech companies \u2014 especially Amazon. Shopping at an independent bookstore has, for many, become a form of protest.<\/p>\n

When Amazon ran a \u201ccounter-sale\u201d last year during Independent Bookstore Day \u2014 an annual event that takes place the last Saturday of April \u2014 the move backfired. The giant triggered a wave of support for independent bookstores that gave many their biggest day of sales \u2014 ever. People are more aware now that how and where they spend money is powerful. Booksellers see that up close.<\/p>\n

Take Dilpreet Kainth, founder of Queens Book Bazaar in New York. Chatting after a full day of sessions, she told me how she burned out working in corporate media. \u201cI really wanted to do something that would make a difference and actually support my local community.\u201d She knew she made the right choice when, at her store\u2019s South Asian-inspired book fair, local residents came up to her to express their excitement.<\/p>\n

Or Janine Sickmeyer, who left the tech world to open Storyline in Upper Arlington, Ohio, because she \u201cwanted to build something tangible and local \u2014 an everyday gathering place where stories bring people together.\u201d Today, her store hosts eight book clubs, and members have transitioned from strangers to travel companions. \u201cAll the hard work feels completely worth it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a reminder that this was never just about the books we read. It\u2019s also about the new stories we\u2019re creating with people we might never have met otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the economic headwinds, ongoing censorship challenges and a decline in reading rates, the energy in the independent bookstore industry is one of defiance \u2014 and it\u2019s animating shops nationwide. Booksellers new and old are giving it their all to rally their communities around books and to bring people together. As LeVar Burton said in his keynote address at Winter Institute: \u201cY\u2019all really do make a difference in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Pearson is the chief executive and co-founder of Libro.fm<\/a>, an audiobook company that shares revenue with local bookstores.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As a blizzard blasted the East Coast in late February, a thousand booksellers from independent bookstores across the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[14934,8487,115355,117583,9238,179,41638,48,52,51,47,50,49,592,1410,22401,1744,826,2335,3945,72],"class_list":{"0":"post-270586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-jump","9":"tag-amazon","10":"tag-book-club","11":"tag-bookseller","12":"tag-chief-executive","13":"tag-community","14":"tag-independent-bookstore","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-la-headlines","17":"tag-la-news","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","20":"tag-los-angeles-news","21":"tag-people","22":"tag-place","23":"tag-resource","24":"tag-space","25":"tag-store","26":"tag-today","27":"tag-wine","28":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}