Bookstores are taking stock and re-evaluating their offerings during the new year, new you season. Several stores coming back after long hiatuses, others have weighed their options and will remain open, like "Portlandia's" feminist bookstore.
This month marks the reopening in New York City of the first Italian bookstore in the U.S., SF Vanni (1884-2004), as a pop-up store and cultural space under the auspices of Centro Primo Levi. One room of the reimagined Village bookstore will be used for book talks and film screenings. The other contains many of the original books sold and published by S.F. Vanni.
The new SF Vanni will also serve as the home for CPL Editions, Centro Primo Levi’s e-book and print-on-demand publishing venture. In conjunction with OR Books, the press will publish new and important texts on Italian Judaism and Primo Levi not yet available in English.
Portland’s In Other Words to Stay Open: The nonprofit feminist bookstore/community center featured in “Portlandia” has reversed a decision made last fall to close. Thanks in part to an Indiegogo campaign that raised $14,500, it will remain open at least through the end of the year.
Writer’s Block Opens in Las Vegas: After a soft opening for the holidays, Las Vegas’s first indie bookstore in decades is getting ready for its grand opening next month, when it will its writing programs in place.
New Contract for Aspen’s Explore Booksellers: A hearing is scheduled for later this week that could determine the fate of the Colorado bookstore, which sits on valuable property. The good news, according to the listing broker, is that all potential purchasers want to preserve the bookstore.
B&N to Return to Highland Park: Just before closing its 20-year-old store last week, Barnes & Noble’s v-p of development told Pioneer Press that the chain is looking for a new location in southwest St. Paul, Minn.
New Asheville Home for Firestorm Bookstore & Cafe: After closing last April, the co-op has found a new location in North Carolina that enables it to scale back the cafe and create a sustainable bookstore. In conjunction with the move, Firestorm launched an Indiegogo campaign on New Year’s Day to raise $13,000.
