After independent bookstores saw a year of strong openings in 2014, the trend continued last year, with the ABA reporting that 60 new indies opened. In 2014, ABA members opened 59 stores.
The new 2015 stores cropped up in 31 states, and the District of Columbia. Sixteen of these new locations are branches of existing bookstores. The ABA also reported that 16 indie stores changed owners last year.
Among 2015's new stores are the Printed Garden in Sandy, Utah, which was opened by Aaron Cance, former bookseller at The King’s English in Salt Lake City. Printed Garden is hold its grand opening this weekend.
In May, Elena Albamonte and Chuck Faaborg opened Bittersweet Books & Coffee in a renovated 19th-century opera house in Americus, Ga. In June, Julie Beddingfield, whose sister Stefani Beddingfield owns Inkwood Books in Tampa, Fl., opened a second Inkwood in Haddonfield, N.J.
Among the stores that changed hands are Redbery Books in Cable, Wisc.; Partners Village Store in Westport, Mass.; and Explore Booksellers in Aspen, Colo.
A complete list of the indies that opened in 2015 is available in Bookselling This Week.
