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 […]
Bookstores
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.
Third B&N Store Unionizes
Following the successful unionization of stores in Hadley, MA and Union Square, NYC, the Barnes & Noble in Park Slope Brooklyn voted 88 percent in favor of unionizing, after announcing their intent in May. Like the chain’s other locations, the store joins the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The union now will go into contract negotiation with management, planning to address “continued safety issues amid the rebound of New York City post-pandemic including workplace harassment, substandard pay for the industry below that of independent booksellers, unstable scheduling practices, a lack of structure when it comes to job duties and tasks […]
B&N Union Square Forms Chain’s Second Union
Booksellers and baristas at the Union Square, NYC Barnes & Noble voted to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, with 97 percent of the workers in favor. The union will represent more than 100 non-supervisory employees and contract negotiations will happen this year. “I am so proud of my coworkers and excited to move forward as a unionized bookstore and a member of RWDSU,” senior bookseller Jessica Sepple said. “We still have work ahead of ourselves, but today we have shown how dedicated we are to improving our store for ourselves and each other. We are ready to […]
Behind the Minimum Wages at Indie Bookstores
Our reporting on compensation in different segments of the publishing industry continues with independent bookstores, where low pay seems like a foregone conclusion. Though indies have grown and diversified in recent years, sustaining workers—and in some cases, the stores themselves—is an ongoing challenge. Some stores, such as Tattered Cover in Denver and Powell’s in Portland, OR, are essentially corporations or mini-chains with multiple locations and HR departments, while others, such as Astoria Bookshop in Queens, have one storefront and fewer than 10 employees, including the owner. The growing unionization of individual bookstores around the country has helped secure pay and […]
Bookselling: The Ripped Bodice Will Open A Store in Brooklyn
LA romance bookstore The Ripped Bodice will open a second location in Park Slope, Brooklyn on August 5. Co-owner Leah Koch will run the store, while her sister and co-owner Bea Koch will remain in the LA shop. Like its west coast counterpart, the new 1900 square foot space will sell a diverse selection of romance titles.