The Diesel Bookstore location in Los Angeles’s Brentwood is up for sale now, owners Alison Reid and John Evans announced in a post on their website. Their other Diesel bookstore has been on the market since May 2022, and they are hoping to finalize a sale of both stores by January 2024. “We’ve decided it is time to step back from bookselling and hopefully find a new engaged bookseller to keep the spirit alive, and the tradition going,” they wrote. “We are excited to pass on our beautiful bookstore in Brentwood and put it in the hands of someone who […]
Bookstores
Powell’s Union Employees Authorize Strike
ILWU Local 5 announced on Wednesday that 92 percent of union members who work at Powell’s Books voted to authorize a strike against the bookstore. The union said: “This vote gives the ILWU Local 5 bargaining team the authority to call for a strike if it becomes necessary in the course of negotiations. It doesn’t mean Powell’s workers are going on strike right away, but it does mean they have the option and are getting strike-ready!” Union employees have been calling renewed attention to their open petition recently, garnering signatures in support of the message, “Tell Powell’s Books: Workers Deserve […]
Initiatives: Binc Incubator Pilot Program
The Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) is launching a three-year pilot program called BincTank to support people from historically underrepresented communities who want to open a bookstore. The organization writes in a release that the program will focus on “capital, education, mentorship, peer-to-peer networking and resource material.” Ken White will lead the initiative as program manager; White has previously served on Binc’s board as well as the board of the ABA. Applications will open in early 2024, with the program initially seeking “entrepreneurs in communities impacted by systemic racism.” Binc plans to open the program up to all marginalized individuals […]
More B&Ns Relocate to Smaller Spaces
There has been a wave of Barnes & Noble store opening news, as the company continues to shift its footprint to generally smaller locations. On the Upper East Side of Manhattan, their much anticipated new 7,000 square-foot store at 1550 3rd Ave on the corner of 87th St. will open on July 19, one block away from the 55,000 sq-ft East 86th St. location that closed three years ago. A new store is coming soon to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA, near a 30,000 sq-ft space that closed in 2018 after 22 years. The new location once […]
New Interim CEO at Tattered Cover
Brad Dempsey took over as interim ceo of Colorado bookstore chain Tattered Cover on Wednesday, after spending the last two months working for the company as an outside advisor, though he says his appointment is “short-term.” Dempsey is an attorney who focuses on “corporate restructuring and bankruptcy, commercial and financial litigation, collection, loan enforcement and foreclosure.” He acknowledges the group faces “pretty substantial financial obstacles.” The Denver Post notes, “Right now, his primary goal is to grow sales and build the store’s inventory – ‘to sell more of what sells.'” Denverite suggests that the Tattered Cover’s Colfax branch has a […]
ABA Suggests Bookstores Prepare for UPS Strike
As UPS and the Teamsters union stall over contract negotiations, it’s possible that workers will begin to strike on July 31, which would affect a vast number of book shipments to and from publishers. The American Booksellers Association suggested ways bookstores can prepare: This month, stores should order up on inventory, order stock for Fall author events, coordinate returns (even if they don’t use UPS), and ask publishers for an increase in their credit limits.