Still alive: Judy Blume opens a book store
May 24, 2016 6:22 AM Subscribe
At 78 years of age, legendary author Judy Blume has made an interesting career choice - in February she opened a book store in Key West, FL.
“I was going to relax and read and have this whole time with no pressure. And then bingo – the chance comes along to open a bookshop, and there you go. I guess I like that in my life … To learn something new like this, at 78, makes it all the more exciting.”
The store, Books & Books in Key West, is an affiliate store of the "locally-owned, independently-minded" chain, which operates mostly in Southern Florida.
Blume's store is part of a small but notable resurgence in independent bookstores in the USA. While it has a while to go to reach its previous high-water membership mark, the American Booksellers Association has seen a 63-store increase in membership from 2015.
Judy Blume on MetaFilter:
Previously, 2015
Previously, 2012
“I was going to relax and read and have this whole time with no pressure. And then bingo – the chance comes along to open a bookshop, and there you go. I guess I like that in my life … To learn something new like this, at 78, makes it all the more exciting.”
The store, Books & Books in Key West, is an affiliate store of the "locally-owned, independently-minded" chain, which operates mostly in Southern Florida.
Blume's store is part of a small but notable resurgence in independent bookstores in the USA. While it has a while to go to reach its previous high-water membership mark, the American Booksellers Association has seen a 63-store increase in membership from 2015.
Judy Blume on MetaFilter:
Previously, 2015
Previously, 2012
I figure if I ever become a published writer, I'll open a bookstore just so I'll have someplace to put my cats.
posted by happyroach at 7:18 AM on May 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by happyroach at 7:18 AM on May 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
Jeff Kinney, who wrote the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series of kids' books, has opened a wonderful bookstore in little Plainville, MA, near me. It's simply fantastic, with good stock, great coffee, a neat event space upstairs, and apparently his own office on the top floor: www.anunlikelystory.com
He even did a Reddit AMA a few weeks back that attracted a decent conversation.
So bookstores ain't'ent dead.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:39 AM on May 24, 2016
He even did a Reddit AMA a few weeks back that attracted a decent conversation.
So bookstores ain't'ent dead.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:39 AM on May 24, 2016
Louise Erdrich has owned a wonderful independent store for years. It's but a short walk from her house and Minneapolis' Lake of the Isles.
posted by Ber at 7:55 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Ber at 7:55 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oh, they're in Voltaire's old space on Simonton.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:13 AM on May 24, 2016
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:13 AM on May 24, 2016
Larry McMurtry had several bookstores which he eventually closed except for the largest and best one, Booked Up in Archer City, his hometown. (For some reason I love that.) I'd been there twice prior to its downsizing and it was wonderful, although I haven't been there since they sold off a huge part of the inventory a few years ago.
He wrote a book about owning bookstores called simply Books: A Memoir, and IIRC he said something in there about how he viewed himself as a bookstore owner/book collector who happened to also write books on the side.
posted by barchan at 8:25 AM on May 24, 2016
He wrote a book about owning bookstores called simply Books: A Memoir, and IIRC he said something in there about how he viewed himself as a bookstore owner/book collector who happened to also write books on the side.
posted by barchan at 8:25 AM on May 24, 2016
So bookstores ain't'ent dead.
If the future of bookstores is "being owned and operated by those who are independently wealthy enough to run businesses which cannot generate enough profit to pay livable salaries to their owners" then I'm pretty sure they're effectively dead.
posted by mightygodking at 8:58 AM on May 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
If the future of bookstores is "being owned and operated by those who are independently wealthy enough to run businesses which cannot generate enough profit to pay livable salaries to their owners" then I'm pretty sure they're effectively dead.
posted by mightygodking at 8:58 AM on May 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
That, up there. I've been to Key West. God love it, but it's not a place where people go to find a good book.
It'll be there as long as Judy Blume is, and good for her. If I was in her place, I'd want my own cool little bookstore to hang out in too. That would be awesome! But a resurgence of viable independent booksellers it is not.
posted by Naberius at 9:17 AM on May 24, 2016
It'll be there as long as Judy Blume is, and good for her. If I was in her place, I'd want my own cool little bookstore to hang out in too. That would be awesome! But a resurgence of viable independent booksellers it is not.
posted by Naberius at 9:17 AM on May 24, 2016
Another bookstore owned by a writer: Garrison Keillor's bookstore Common Good Books in St. Paul, MN
posted by larrybob at 9:37 AM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by larrybob at 9:37 AM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
larrybob, Keillor's store used to be in a space it took over from the Macalester College ("the Oberlin of Ramsey County, MN") bookstore. Actually, it was the Mac bookstore and then suddenly one day it just had a new name and new owner, if my memory serves. And now it's moved up the street a block, closer to the good coffee. My buddy Gail had a food place in there once they overhauled the building and the Patagonia store opened.
(Jesus, this is what getting old is like, isn't it?)
(I should probably delete this comment, but it's a very St. Paul Sort Of Thing to write.)
posted by wenestvedt at 10:06 AM on May 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
(Jesus, this is what getting old is like, isn't it?)
(I should probably delete this comment, but it's a very St. Paul Sort Of Thing to write.)
posted by wenestvedt at 10:06 AM on May 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
Was pleasantly shocked when I visited Common Good Books to discover how they organized their books. Definitely not like the chain stores.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:25 AM on May 24, 2016
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:25 AM on May 24, 2016
If the future of bookstores is "being owned and operated by those who are independently wealthy enough to run businesses which cannot generate enough profit to pay livable salaries to their owners" then I'm pretty sure they're effectively dead.
Well, those are the ones you read about in the papers, anyway.
posted by mediareport at 10:25 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Well, those are the ones you read about in the papers, anyway.
posted by mediareport at 10:25 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
There is a large and utterly ridiculous store in Newton, Mass., called the New England Mobile Book Fair: www.nebookfair.com
When I lived nearer we used to go shopping regularly, but I haven't been back in several years. Back then there was one giant room for hardbacks and the other is for paperbacks, arranged by publisher, and within that by title. Good luck! It was a browser's paradise and a brutal ordeal for control freaks. (Having worked in a bookstore as a teen, I loved the anxious tingle in my stomach every time I looked around and saw how little they cared for alphabetizing.)
But several years ago, a local guy --around retirement age -- bought the store and began to organize its million-plus books. The article talks about changes in the independent bookstore scene, and does a great job describing the giant store and its marketplace.
Dang, that might be my Father's Day treat this year!
posted by wenestvedt at 11:29 AM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
When I lived nearer we used to go shopping regularly, but I haven't been back in several years. Back then there was one giant room for hardbacks and the other is for paperbacks, arranged by publisher, and within that by title. Good luck! It was a browser's paradise and a brutal ordeal for control freaks. (Having worked in a bookstore as a teen, I loved the anxious tingle in my stomach every time I looked around and saw how little they cared for alphabetizing.)
But several years ago, a local guy --around retirement age -- bought the store and began to organize its million-plus books. The article talks about changes in the independent bookstore scene, and does a great job describing the giant store and its marketplace.
Dang, that might be my Father's Day treat this year!
posted by wenestvedt at 11:29 AM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
If the future of bookstores is "being owned and operated by those who are independently wealthy enough to run businesses which cannot generate enough profit to pay livable salaries to their owners" then I'm pretty sure they're effectively dead.
That describes an increasing number of ventures today and is no measure of worth.
posted by bongo_x at 11:52 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
That describes an increasing number of ventures today and is no measure of worth.
posted by bongo_x at 11:52 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think that may be part of it, but part of it is that successful independent bookstores tend to reflect the personality and priorities of a particular person, usually the owner. Customers don't just come in to buy a book, because they can do that at Amazon. They come in because they want to see what's on the front table and whether the owner has read anything good lately and what he or she thought of the latest book by so-and-so. The presiding person doesn't have to be a celebrity, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:40 PM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:40 PM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yes, Parnassus books is not huge, and they certainly don't have everything, but when I wander around I swear I want to buy 90% of the books in there. Recommended.
posted by bongo_x at 4:19 PM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by bongo_x at 4:19 PM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
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*shrug* Books just weren't a broken technology in need of replacing.
posted by mediareport at 6:46 AM on May 24, 2016 [5 favorites]