Bookstores

The bookseller opens two new replacement stores next week. A 20,000-square-foot store in Danbury, CT relocates the chain from Danbury Square to Danbury Fair Mall, where a store was based for 32 years. In Philadelphia, a Center City store on Chestnut Street takes over from the recently-closed Rittenhouse Square store, in a space that is about 5,000 square feet smaller. The new store does not have a cafe, or a public restroom. But all BN locations with cafes will be getting the Just Egg vegan breakfast sandwich starting April 10, “for a limited time.” The sandwich features “mung bean-based Just […]

Barnes & Noble expects to open a new 8,000-square-foot store in Wareham Crossing in Wareham, MA, scheduled to open on June 14. Independent bookstore Anodyne Book Shop opens this week in Searsport, ME. And Foggy Pine Books in Boone, NC will close on April 15.  

Alexander Book Company, in downtown San Francisco, will close on April 30, after 32 years. They write on their website, “Alexander Book Company has had a great run, but we’ve finally reached the last chapter.” All books are currently 25 percent off. The San Francisco Standard writes that the pandemic and subsequent shift to remote work “clobbered” the downtown area. The Alexander Book Company particularly catered to office workers, with a nine to five schedule and closure on the weekends. Also closing on April 30, is Eastwind Books of Berkeley, an Asian American bookshop that has operated for more than […]

McNally Jackson announced that their original store at 52 Prince Street in Manhattan will close on March 21 after 19 years there. They are moving a few blocks west, to 134 Prince Street: “Our new store is larger and sturdier, but we have loved our old store for a long time.”

In a video posted to YouTube, Greenlight Bookstore owner Jessica Stockton Bagnulo announced that the Flatbush Avenue location will close on May 14. Bagnulo explains that the location is not “making enough sales to cover the costs of operating it,” and that the company’s other locations can no longer support it. Some booksellers will be “moving on,” and management is working with the union to make that process “as equitable and transparent as we can.” Bagnulo is quick to explain that the closure is not due to Amazon’s destructive influence on brick-and-mortar stores, a decline in book sales overall (“[people] […]

Canadian retailer Indigo now admits that their recent cybersecurity incident was a ransomware attack — they almost always are — and also concedes that at least “some” current and former employee data was compromised. They report, “We are notifying all affected employees. We have also notified and are cooperating with law enforcement.” The company adds on its site, “We deeply regret this incident and are committed to ensuring employees have the support they need.”