Among the happenings in independent bookselling week is the launch of the French Embassy's "French Corners" in indie bookstores; the Savannah Book Festival; and the closing of Philadelphia's Book Trader.
Events
Savannah Book Festival: The festival, which opened last night with an event with Janet Evonovich, continues through the weekend and will close with a talk and signing by Anne Rice and Christopher Rice.
Openings & Closings
Bank Street to Reopen in New Digs on Saturday: One New York City bookstore closes and another opens, as the children’s specialty store completes its move to a new, smaller location at 780 Broadway and West 107th Street.
Albertine Opens French Corners: “Let them read Houellebecq!” writes The New York Times, capturing the spirit of the new French book sections, crafted by Albertine bookstore in New York City, for independents around the country.
Wild Fig to Close Sunday: After three and a half years, Ronald Davis, owner of the used Lexington, Ky., bookstore, is calling bookselling quits, in part due to competition from Half Price Books.
Philly’s Book Trader to Close: At the end of February, 82-year-old Mary Alice Curley is closing her 30-year-old used bookstore, which specializes in romance, sci-fi, westerns, biographies, and mysteries.
Lincolnshire, Ill., B&N Could Close: Concerned that Barnes & Noble might shutter its store at the Lincolnshire Mall at the end of December, mall owners are considering ending the lease and renting it to a medical clinic.
Other News
Books Damaged During Flintbridge Tussle: Flintbridge Bookstore & Coffeeshop in La Cañada Flintbridge, Calif., is no stranger to damages. Shortly after it opened, an 18-wheeler went through its front window. Now an altercation between a developmentally disabled man and his caregivers left many destroyed children’s books in its wake.
Deb Witte Buys New Bo Books: The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, bookstore is changing hands on March 1.
Octavia Books Featured in New Movie: Earlier this week shooting took place at the New Orleans bookstore for When the Bough Breaks, a psychological thriller starring Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall, and Jaz Sinclair.
