A Plethora of New Indies Open in 2006

January 04, 2007

Following the publication of this article, three bookstore owners who opened stores in 2006 contacted Bookselling This Week and requested that their store names be added to the list. The following article has been updated to reflect these additions.

According to data recently released by ABA, 97 ABA member bookstores opened for business in 2006. New owners contacted by BTW report a number of reasons for launching their stores, yet each person shared at least two traits: a love of reading and a desire to make a difference.

Given the number of "independent bookstore closing" reports in the media in recent weeks, this is, perhaps, unexpected -- and very good -- news. Avin Mark Domnitz, ABA CEO noted, "The number of new stores -- and the intelligence and professionalism of these new owners -- clearly demonstrates that independent bookselling is very much alive and well in the 21st century. Happily, the reports of the decline of independents have, again, been exaggerated."

The 97 new stores opening in 2006 follows a 2005 total of more than 90 new store openings.

The locations of the new independent bookstores range from Ben Lomond, California, to Ludlow, Vermont, with names like A Good Book, or Lorelei Books, or Monkey See Monkey Read (for a full list, click here). According to those new bookstore owners who spoke to BTW, their reasons for opening an independent bookstore are as varied as their stores, and their paths to bookstore ownership.

The 5,000-square-foot Rock Point Books in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is owned by author David Magee (The South is Round, Jefferson Press, April 1) and Albert Waterhouse, the founder of a Chattanooga PR company, opened in November 2006. Magee told BTW that he's been a successful writer since 2002 but wanted to open a bookstore "because I love books and independent bookstores," adding, "I am a community guy, and live in the Chattanooga community." Chattanooga has a population of about 155,000. "There is a great revitalization of the infrastructure of the riverfront, and infrastructure needs culture.... Nothing does that like a broad-minded bookstore."

Mary McHale of Fox Tale Books in New Durham, New Hampshire, opened her bookstore this past September. "I don't think there's anything better than walking into a bookstore and the people there knowing what's on their shelves," McHale said. She decided to open an independent in New Durham because the town "needed it." As an independent, she noted that she can "carry anything we choose to carry," adding, "it's a very small little town ... and there is a big population of people who are intelligent and who read."

Ann Burlingham opened Burlingham Books, in the rural community of Perry, New York, in January 2006. "I've never really done anything else -- my last job was running an independent in Columbus, Ohio," she said. "My mother says I've been talking about [owning a bookstore] for 20 years! Perry is my hometown, it's where I grew up and where I needed to be." She said that in her new role as bookstore owner she's looking forward to helping in the revitalization of Perry's downtown.

Though Burlingham had a deep knowledge of the bookselling business, she attended the Paz & Associate's Prospective Booksellers School at BookExpo America in 2005. "It was a brushup to make sure I knew what I was doing," she said. So far, "we're doing pretty well. People in town are enthusiastic."

Prior to opening Nightbird Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas, home of the University of Arkansas, Lisa Sharp had been the bookkeeper of her husband's architectural firm. "Part of why I was a bookkeeper was the company was tenuously profitable," she said. "When they started doing better, they could afford to hire a bookkeeper. And my kids were older and I wanted to do something. I love books, love talking about books, love hearing about books, so I looked into opening a bookstore."

Sharp had no prior bookstore experience, so one of her primary sources of information came from the consulting firm Paz & Associates. She attended the Prospective Booksellers School, and "the more information I got, the more I knew I wanted to become a bookseller." Her store opened in April 2006. "It's really going well," she reported. "Not quite making a profit, but it's very close. The community has been wonderful."

Perhaps the Buddhist saying that inspired Patrick Spahr to name his new age bookstore Ten Thousand Joys, says all you need to know about his reasons for opening an independent. The store opened in April 2006. "I attend meditation classes and my teacher spoke about the ten thousand joys and ten thousand sorrows," Spahr said. "At some point you have to stop and ask yourself, what do you love? I love books." His store is located in Frederick, Maryland, the fourth-largest city in Maryland.

Spahr, who worked in the IT field prior to opening his bookstore, recalled how he once asked a massage therapist if he loved his work and the therapist answered "yes" without hesitation. "The engineers I worked with seldom said that," he noted. "I think of a bookstore as a fixture in the community that gives back. I have wanted to have my own business for many years."

Spahr attended Paz's Prospective Booksellers School two years ago and also credits Susan Weiss of breathe books in Baltimore, Maryland, for her help in getting his store off the ground. "She helped me organize and categorize," he said. "And between ABA and the Coalition of Visionary Resources [COVR, an not-for-profit trade association of new age stores), I just had so much support. Independents run the risk of feeling isolated, but I felt really connected."

Historic Plymouth, Massachusetts, the well-known tourist destination, has a population of over 50,000 people and didn't have a new-book store, aside from a Borders Books & Music. That was a key reason that Zolton Phillips decided to open his bookstore, A.S. Phillips Books & More, there. Aside from the fact that he lives there, too. "I decided that Plymouth needed an independent bookstore," he said.

Prior to opening A.S. Phillips, Phillips had managed a bookstore in Cambridge for eight years, but eventually, the long commute got to him. Nonetheless, that experience helped "educate me," he said, and added: "I also do believe that there is a move toward people wanting to support independents."

For Fox Tale Books' McHale, the biggest obstacle in opening her store was "getting the bank to realize that this wasn't nuts -- they want everything to be definite," she said. "The biggest hurdle is to get financing. People think nobody reads, but they do."

Magee also counted money among his challenges. "We spent a lot of money on the building and the challenge was when to stop spending money. We wanted a look that would elevate the book -- we wanted a very fitting pedestal."

For Spahr, the biggest challenge in opening his store was "my own fear. Money was never really the obstacle for me." Fortunately, business for Ten Thousand Joys has been "going very well," he reported. "The lights are still on and the music still plays, so I'm grateful."

"The first [obstacle] was finding the right location," said Phillips. "The second was controlling costs."

Donna Paz of Paz & Associates, which organizes the Prospective Booksellers Schools with ABA each year, was not surprised at the number of store openings in 2006. "As long as we see baby boomers aging and retiring early, I think we're going to see independent bookstores opening," Paz said. "Obviously, people are still reading, and we're seeing more people coming [into bookselling] through a business path. They retire early and then do what they always dreamed about."--David Grogan

New independent bookstores opening in 2006

Here is a list of the 97 ABA member bookstores that opened for business in 2006.

If your store is an ABA member that opened in 2006 but is not listed here, please contact Kristen Gilligan at Kristen@bookweb.org.

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