As the year draws to a close booksellers continue to make plans to open new stores in places across the country, including New York City’s Lower East Side.
Openings
Opening Date Set for NYC Indie Movie Theatre and Cinema Bookstore: February 19 marks the opening of the first independent movie theater in Manhattan in a decade. A cinema bookstore along with a restaurant, café and lounge will also be part of Metrograph on the Lower East Side.
Other News
Court Hears Challenges to Louisiana Age Verification Law: Late last week attorneys for the American Booksellers Association, Garden District Book Shop, and Octavia Books appeared before Judge Brian A. Jackson, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, and urged him to block a newly passed state law requiring online age verification. A suit was filed on November 4.
Longwood University Bookstore to Move Downtown: This summer the school store, a Barnes & Noble, will move to a rehabbed building in Farmville, Va., along with a Starbucks.
Tiny Santa Barbara Store About to Turn 25: Since 1991, David Karys-Schiff and his wife have operated Mesa Bookstore, a 200-sq. ft. used bookstore with 10,000 books.
Book Travelers West Hires Kevin Peters: On February 1, Kevin J. Peters, a former rep for Macmillan/Holtzbrinck, will join Book Travelers West as sales rep in the Northern California territory. Phoebe Gaston moves to the Mountain territory based in Denver for Colorado, Wyoming as well as Utah, New Mexico and Hawaii.
Obituary: Jean Margaret Matthews (1957-2015): Jean Margaret Matthews, who co-founded Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Mont., died on December 16; she was 58. She is survived by her husband, store co-founder and ABA past president Russ Lawrence. A memorial will take place in the spring. Donations can be made to a local charity or to Tuesday at Twelve, c/o First Security Bank, PO Box 393, Hamilton, MT 59840.
