Bookstores

Los Angeles bookstores Vroman’s and Book Soup have changed ownership after decades under the leadership of the Sheldon family. Longtime customer Robert Hoffman and his family will take over both stores. The Sheldons led Vroman’s for 100 years, with Joel Sheldon leading for the last 50. Sheldon acquired Book Soup in 2009 after founder Glenn Goldman died. Joel Sheldon writes in the Vroman’s announcement, “After talking with Robert and his family, I knew we had found the right stewards. They understand what makes this store special, and they’re committed to preserving that legacy while moving Vroman’s forward for our customers […]

Boston bookstore Porter Square Books launched a publication earlier this month, The Porter Square Review of Books, which will publish “weekly(ish)” book reviews of new releases across all genres for all ages. Nieman Lab reports that reviews will be written by booksellers and writers-in-residence, and be rounded up in a monthly newsletter. The team writes in an announcement, “The decline of books coverage in the media, including a dramatic decline in regular old book reviews, has been well documented. Even before the Washington Post shuttered their entire books section, readers had relatively few newspapers, journals, or media outlets to turn to […]

On May 22, Powerhouse Books opened a new bookstore in the former Amazon books space in the Shops at Columbus Circle. Amazon occupied the space starting in 2017, and vacated it in 2022 when Amazon announced it would close all brick-and-mortar stores. Powerhouse has three other locations in Brooklyn. Elsewhere, Harvard Book Store is opening a new location at 33 Union Street in Boston, near Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. The store will be 3,500 square feet with a 1,500 square foot cafe operated by Lakon Paris Patisserie. Harvard Book Store general manager Lisa Jayne said in a release, “We […]

ABA CEO Allison Hill wrote in her annual letter to members that membership grew by 19% in 2025, with the addition of 605 brick-and-mortar, pop-up, and mobile stores. The AP breaks it down further as 3,417 members (up 554 members from a year ago), operating at 3,783 locations. The organization has grown 151% over the last six years. Hill writes, “the majority of stores also reported year-over-year increases in sales for 2025 over 2024.” She continues: “2025 was also the most challenging year for indies on record as our members faced rising costs, tariffs, the impact of ICE and the […]