New stores open in New York, Oklahoma, and Texas; a store preps for an Indiana opening in a former Borders location; Binc launches a year-end fundraiser; and more.
2nd & Charles to Take Over Former Highland, Ind., Borders Site: A March 4 opening is planned for the first Indiana bookstore for the chain. There are currently 30 2nd & Charles locations around the country.
B&N’s Second Concept Store Opens in Minnesota: The bookstore chain opened its second new concept store with a 100-seat restaurant in as many weeks at the Galleria Mall in Edina, Minn. The 21,500 sq. ft. store replaces a 38,000 sq. ft. store nearby. David Deason, v-p of development for B&N, told the Star Tribune that as many as 100 of its 628 locations could accommodate a smaller footprint with a larger food and beverage section like the two that have opened.
Bookstore, Music, & Art Boutique Opens in NYC’s Chinatown: Last week New Yorker Simon Gabriel Greenberg opened 2 Bridges in the East Broadway Mall to “[put] music, art and books into conversation with each other, the way they are at someone’s house,” he told Resident Advisor.
Owasso’s Another Chapter and Coffee Bar Opens: Black Friday was anything but for Karen Barros, who opened the bookstore and café on November 25 after two years of planning. She will launch a website in the coming weeks and host a ribbon-cutting ceremony in January.
Vintage Bookshop Comes to Hearne, Tex.: Chuck Thompson and Royce Jatko opened Crossroads Bookshop to fill the void. The store also sells CDs and DVDs and is holding a 25% off sale from December 1-8 to celebrate its grand opening.
Morris Book Shop to Close: On January 30, Wyn Morris will close the Lexington, Ky., bookstore after a nine-year run. His efforts to sell the bookstore over the past five months have not worked out. A liquidation sale will begin after Christmas. Store manager Jay McCoy and Savannah Sipple want to open a bookstore of their own in the Chevy Chase area.
Indy’s Oldest Bookstore May Close: The used bookstore has fallen on hard times since its founding 38 years ago by current owner Michael Stafford’s stepfather, Jim Ware. Stafford is way behind on rent and has yet to find a taker to purchase the store, which he has been trying to sell for the last few months. A gofundme campaign https://www.gofundme.com/g3qprvuc launched earlier this year has netted less than $900 toward its $10,000 goal.
Rainbow Bookstore Collective to Close November 30: After 27 years, the collective, located near the UW-Madison campus, will close its doors. The decision was prompted by the loss of textbook sales and competition from online book retailers.
Binc Launches End of Year Fundraiser: On Giving Tuesday (Nov. 29) the Book Industry Charitable Foundation began a year-end fundraiser to reach its $100,000 goal. Between now and December 15 the board will match donations. In 2016, Binc provided financial assistance to 30 booksellers and their families with more than $72,000. It also awarded higher education scholarships for students from 22 different bookstores, and it has provided professional development scholarships to 17 booksellers.
