Strand Expands: Eight More Miles of Books
by Edward Nawotka -- Publishers Weekly, 10/14/2002
Just a week after closing for a day to serve as the set for an episode of the British hit show Absolutely Fabulous, New York City's Strand Bookstore has been featured several times in the media, first in a profile of co-owner Nancy Bass in last week's People magazine and then in a New York Times ad as sponsor of a showing of the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie, Punch Drunk Love, for which the store is distributing free tickets.
Some highlights from the People profile of Bass:
- The Strand rents books for use on movie sets at an average cost of $30 per shelf foot; they were used most recently in A Beautiful Mind.
- Michael Jackson spent $5,000 in a single evening in the store, buying 170 books on topics that included UFOs and Pocahontas.
- U2 lead singer Bono spent $35,000 on a 1935 edition of Ulysses signed by James Joyce and illustrated by Matisse.
- Tom Cruise likes to take "half-priced mainstream hardcovers" with him on vacation.
- Revlon CEO Ron Perlman purchased 6,000 antique leather-bound books for $100,000.
With regard to the movie ad, Bass told PW that the Strand has distributed free tickets many times in the past, so it's not that unusual. She reported, too, that the store is expanding to another floor and adding a coffee or juice bar, "something non-corporate or chainy." In an effort to make the coffee or juice bar distinct from the store, the Strand is considering giving the bar an "Old New York" theme but has yet to settle on a decor.
The impending expansion has prompted a change of the store's motto from "8 Miles of Books" to "16 Miles of Books."
