Bookstores

I AM Books in Boston has reopened in a new location the North End, after closing for a year due to the pandemic. The new space is more than three times the size of the original store, which first opened in 2015.

John W. Henry, principal owner of the Boston Globe and Fenway Sports Group (which owns the Red Sox) has invested in Harvard Book Store. The initial investment will be directed to “renovation projects for the existing bookstore” and updating the bookstore’s website “to provide a leading-edge e-commerce experience, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of Harvard Book Store.” Future investments will go toward “other projects currently in planning stages to enhance the bookstore’s presence in Greater Boston’s literary landscape.” Henry said in a release, “We hope that our involvement will enable Harvard Book Store to build upon this legacy to better […]

Employees at Half Price Books locations in St. Paul, Roseville and Northtown (Coon Rapids), MN voted in favor of unionization on Thursday. They are the first HPB locations among over 120 outlets to win union recognition for their workers. Those unionized employees join United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Locals 663 and 1189. A St. Louis Park, MN location is in the middle of its own unionization vote; the NLRB will count those ballots on Jan. 3.  

Black Garnet Books will open in its own space on University Avenue West in St. Paul, after operating for a year as a pop-up in Merci Tattoo. Owner Dionne Sims will begin renovations in February, and plans to open in summer 2022. The city’s only Black-owned bookstore, it will stock “adult and young adult contemporary literature written by Black and racially diverse authors.”

Employees at Washington, D.C.’s Politics & Prose bookstore intend to unionize, DCist reports. Some workers have signed union authorization cards, but owners Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine will wait to recognize the union until after a vote through the National Labor Relations Board. An estimated 55 of the store’s 100 workers across three locations are eligible to join. In unionizing, the employees want “a contract that secures a living wage instead of a minimum one, as well as pay transparency and a standardized pay scale;” “to improve scheduling;” “shape health and safety policies, and ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion training.” […]

A new bookstore, Hudson Valley Books for Humanity, opened Friday in the historic Olive Opera House in Ossining, NY. Co-owners Amy Hall and Rob Lowenthal “are selling new and used books, hosting events, and featuring products from local artisans and craftspeople.” The Book Review in Falmouth, ME has changed owners, and will reopen in January as Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop. New owners Jeff Curtis and Maria Boord Curtis plan to double the size of the store, relocating it to a space a few doors down from its present location, but “retain its comfortable atmosphere, employees and offerings.” A new […]