Bookstores

Chip Gaines has purchased the buildings housing Booked Up, the bookstore in Archer City, Texas formerly owned by Lonesome Dove author Larry McMurtry. The store has been closed for over a year, following McMurtry’s death in 2021. Archer City was McMurtry’s hometown, and he ran the store for decades. He bequeathed it to longtime manager Khristal Collins. CNN says “the deed records show the properties were sold for ten dollars ‘and other good and valuable consideration'” and the store contains “a breathtaking collection of books.” Collins launched an online “Booked Up” bookstore on Wednesday, selling rare and fine books to […]

McNally Jackson opened a new location, its fifth, in Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. They wrote on Twitter, “This store is our effort to resurrect the lost tradition of grand, midtown bookstores. Please come see it, and tell us what you think.” The 7,000-square-foot store is located at 1 Rockefeller Plaza.

After a cybersecurity incident felled its website and many in-store services on Feb. 8, Indigo announced on social media that stores can now process all forms of payment, as well as returns and exchanges. The company put up a placeholder site where customers can browse books and other merchandise that’s available in store, but the site can’t accept purchases or check the status of previously-placed online orders. The Indigo app is also unavailable. In an FAQ on the website, the company said their investigation “has found no indication” that customer data, including credit card information, was compromised. The company does […]

The bookseller is modifying its longstanding membership program, making it more…complicated. The $25 membership is turning into a $40 “premium” program. The main enhancements are extending the 10 percent discount to most online purchases, some additional cafe enhancements, and a “free” tote bag every year. A new initiative offers a free rewards program, providing rewards “stamps” in exchange for your personal data and letting the store market to you. (“Stamps” is the same term used for rewards points in Waterstones’ long-running program, if you’re wondering why they chose that paradigm.) The WSJ tries to position it as having something to […]

On Wednesday Barnes & Noble opens a new, modestly-sized 7,000-square-foot store in the Paddock Shops in Louisville, KY, a day after they close a much larger 25,000-square-foot store in the same shopping center. Separately, another longtime BN in Rochester Hills, MI closed on Sunday after 27 years in that location.

As of March 1, the American Booksellers Association will switch from IndieBound buy buttons to links to Bookshop, as part of a partnership with the latter retail site. The move was initially planned for 2020, but delayed by the pandemic. They write in an announcement that the aims of the shift are to “help eliminate consumer confusion, improve data for the indie channel, convert more consumers, generate more revenue for booksellers (thanks to a simpler purchase flow and higher conversion rate), and optimize the impact of Bookshop for independent bookstores.” Indiebound.org will remain active and continue initiatives like Indie Store Finder, […]